Making It Up
by JMLHCPKSfan
Summary: Carlos was having a nice life- being a popstar with his best friends, running wild, living life. But when he finds that his ex is dead and she left him an unexpected gift, his life changes forever. Lexi is three, but acts much older, having to grow up and obey abusive "father's" orders. Now Carlos struggles to make up for the lost years with his daughter, after nearly giving her up
1. Surprise!

**So I know that I don't really make it clear in most of my stories, so I'm telling you first thing. They look like they do now in this story. And if you only watch the show, Kendall's got a different haircut than Season 4. It's short and he pushes it back all cute-like and stuff. Okay. Hope you enjoy.**

* * *

"I love you, baby." I smiled, hugging Tiffany tight.

"Yeah, yeah." she grumbled, patting my back.

"I'll miss you." I said as I pulled back with a grin.

"I'll miss... Parts of you." she said with a sarcastic thumbs up.

"Okay- well, I guess I have to go now."

"Yeah."

I came forward to kiss her goodbye, but she pulled away and held me back.

"What's wrong? I'm not gonna see you for a long time- don't you wanna kiss me goodbye?" I asked.

"I think we should break up." she said simply.

"What?" I asked, heart sunk.

"You'd better go now."

"Why do you wanna break up?"

"Cause I don't love you. And I'm not gonna see you for a long time- the only reason I kept you around is cause you had a dick that I could use any time." she shrugged. "I'll see you sometime- maybe."

With that, she walked away.

"C'mon, Los. Gonna miss our flight." James said, pulling me impatiently by the arm to the gate.

I cried all the way to L.A. I couldn't even tell the guys WHY I was crying because I was so heartbroken.

* * *

Four years later, I was laying upside down on the orange couch, my helmet on my stomach, tapping on it like a drum.

"Would you quit that?" Logan asked angrily.

"I'm so BORED!" I groaned, bringing my feet up over my head to roll off of the couch.

"Read a book." Logan grumbled.

"Yeah- RIGHT." I laughed sarcastically. I moved over to James, who was cuddling around with Kendall on the couch. I poked him in the top of the head and he shot me a look.

"Fuck of, Los." he growled. "Not in the mood."

Kendall looked up at me and gave me a "sorry- I'm workin' on it" look. I groaned and laid face-down on the carpet, feeling miserably bored.

"You need a girlfriend." Logan said, throwing a pencil at me.

"Or a boyfriend." Kendall suggested.

"Or a plane ol friend that wants to have FUN and not sit around doing nothing!" I said into the carpet.

"Join a gang, you baby." James spat. Kendall punched James in the stomach and got up, making James plead for him to come back. Kendall sat on my back.

"I'll play with you, Los." he said, poking my spine. "What're we doing?"

"We could go to the pool." I said, perking up.

"Lemme get changed." Kendall said, getting up and violently slapping my butt in the process. James followed Kendall into their room and I knew I shouldn't count on going any time soon. They would fight for a while. Make up. Do gross stuff together. THEN Kendall would go to the pool with me.

"AAAH!" I groaned. "I'm so fricking bored!"

"Kendall's going to the pool with you!" Logan said.

"In like three hours!" I groaned. "Him and James are like- having sex."

As if on cue, there was a crash against the door and something broke in their room.

"GET OUTTA HERE YOU DICKFACE!" Kendall yelled.

The door flung open and James stormed out, laying face down on the couch, gripping a pillow. Kendall came out and stormed out the door.

"Wait, but-" I tried, but he had already slammed the door closed.

"FUUUUUUUUUUUCK!" I groaned, bumping my helmeted head on the wall over and over again.

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door.

"GOT IT!" I called, sprinting to the door, expecting to see Camille to take Logan away, leaving me with the pissed off James. Or maybe it was Bitters, yelling at us for something. Either way, it had to be more entertaining than THIS.

I slung the door open to see a woman with greying hair holding a little girl's hand. She had a duffle bag in her hand.

"Can I... Help you?" I asked.

"Does Carlos Garcia live here?" the woman asked.

"Yes..." I said hesitantly. "That's me."

"Tiffany Downing has passed away recently from a... Drug overdose." the woman whispered the last part. "You are the last relative this girl has to care after her.

I looked down at the little girl. She short curly black hair, tan skin, and huge black eyes.

"I don't know her." I said, confused.

"You're her father." the woman said. "May we come in?"

My eyes widened and they came in, sitting at the kitchen table. Logan gave me a "what the hell?" look and James looked up from his pillows to see them. The girl ran off and hid behind the love seat.

"Her name is Alexis Nadia Downing, but you're free to change her last name. She's a little more than three years old- her birthday is August 3rd. She was raised as the oldest of five children- nobody knew of the abuse happening at the home she was at until the mother, Tiffany, died. Now she isn't so good with men. She's used to them being in her life for a while then leaving. And her last 'father' was extremely abusive."

"ONLY men live here!"

"It won't take long for her to warm up to you."

"And... You're POSITIVE that this is MY daughter?"

"DNA tests have proven it."

I looked over at the girl, who was looking up into the swirly slide curiously.

"So what do I do with her?"

"You raise her."

"I can't! I'm in a band. I've got tours and albums and-"

"You COULD give her up to a foster home." she said. "But I have to leave her here."

I sighed and rubbed my eyes.

"Okay. Well, have fun." she said, getting up and leaving.

"What's going on?" Logan asked cautiously.

"She's my kid." I said, eyes wide as I stood up. "Tiffany OD'ed and is dead... She's mine."

I cautiously approached the little girl and she darted into the slide, eyes wide, hugging her knees.

"Alexis? Is that your name?" I asked.

"Lexi." she said in a high pitched voice. I looked over at Logan and James, staring at her in wonder.

"You're gonna be staying with us a while." I said, kneeling before her.

"Why?"

"Cause your mommy-"

"Is dead."

"Uh... Yeah." I said uncomfortably. "And I'm supposed to take care of you now."

"What's your name?"

"My name is Carlos." I said, pointing to myself. I turned and pointed to Logan and James. "And this is Logan and James."

Lexi looked them over.

"Do you have any toys?" she asked me.

"I've got dart guns."

"Guns are for boys."

"I don't have any girl toys." I shrugged.

"I'm hungry." she said.

"Okay- I have dinosaur nuggets." I said. Lexi's eyes lit up and she nodded. I stood up and held my hand out to her, which she stared at and darted out of the slide without taking.

* * *

"I've gotta give her up to some foster home." I said to Logan and James as we watched the girl eat the dinosaur nuggets with ranch- the way I liked them.

"I agree... This is too much responsibility for ANY twenty-year old, especially YOU." Logan said.

"She's cute." James noted.

"Of COURSE she is. She came for MY seed." I hissed.

"Still can't get past the fact that you even had sex." Logan said. I punched him in the shoulder hotly.

"Wait- how can we be sure she's yours?" James said.

"The lady said there were DNA tests."

"That's vague." Logan snorted.

"And how did they even GET your DNA?"

"I dunno! If nothing else, I'm sure there are several of my hairs on Ebay." I said. "And besides- just LOOK at her. She's got my eyes and nose and skin tone. She couldn't NOT be mine- Tiffany wasn't Latino."

"Not to say she couldn't hook up with one after you left." Logan said.

"Doesn't even matter if she's mine. Cause tomorrow I'm taking her to wherever I need to take her. I've got the band and my young adulthood to worry about. I don't need a kid." I said with finality.

"You really don't even feel bad about giving her away?" Logan asked.

"I don't even know the kid! And she doesn't know me. That's the way it's gonna stay." I said as I watched Lexi climb down from her chair, drag it to the sink, rinse off the plate and fork, and put it in the dish washer.

"Uh- Lexi?" I called. She closed the dishwasher and looked over at me. "How come you just did that?"

"Cause Tim says that if I don't, he'll have to take care of me for it." she said innocently.

I looked over at James and Logan and they returned that same horrified look. I knelt down and she walked over to me.

"What do you mean he'll 'take care of you'?" I asked.

"Give me another one of these." she said, pointing to a purple bruise on her little bicep. "He did it to Mommy sometimes, too."

I stared at her, terror struck, and she ran off to find something to play with.

"My child- spent her whole life getting beat up by shithead after shithead... And Tiffany did nothing about it." I said absently, sitting on the ground. "I wish... I wish it could have been different."

Logan patted my head sympathetically.

"Guys! Dora the freaking Explorer is in our living room!" we heard Kendall yell and got up to see him and Lexi staring at each other.

"Yeah... Turns out, I have a daughter! Surprise!" I said in mock excitement. Kendall's eyes lifted to me, then to her, then to me.

"THE HELL?" he squeaked.

"Tiffany OD'ed. She's dead. And so just like- half an hour ago- this lady showed up with her and kinda just left her here. I had no idea!"

"What's your name?" Lexi asked Kendall cutely.

"She talks?" Kendall asked.

"She's three years old. Of COURSE she talks."

"Eh- my name is Kendall." Kendall said. "Me llamo Kendall?"

"C'mon, man!" I groaned. "She's like- three hundred percent American."

"What's YOUR name? Is it Dora? PLEASE say yes." Kendall said to Lexi.

"Lexi."

"Can I call you Dora?"

"No! Don't nickname her!" Logan said quickly. "She's not staying."

"Sorry!" Kendall said, raising his hands in surrender as he walked past James to the kitchen, but James was soon sent away, moping.

"May I go up on the slide, Mister Carlos?" Lexi asked, looking up at me. I gave her a strange look.

"Uh- yeah. Go ahead. Don't hurt yourself." I said and she ran away happily.

* * *

**Yay! Another story that I'm too busy to write but am going to anyway! :D**

**Follow, favorite, REVIEW! :)**


	2. James the Lawyer

Lexi slept in my bed, I slept on the couch that night. I had called and made arrangements with an adoption agency and was to drop Lexi off there and they would take it from there.

"Hey, Lexi?" I asked in the car, on the way to the place. James was there with me, for moral support I guessed. She looked at me. "Did- did your mommy ever tell you anything about your daddy? Your real daddy?"

"Just that he was Mexican like me." she said. James snorted.

"He's not Mexican." I corrected. "He's a perfect mix of Spanish and Venezuelan."

"Oh."

"She didn't tell you anything else?" I asked.

"She said that he was nice and would have played with me a lot if he was still loved me." she said.

"Your Mommy told you that your daddy didn't love you?"

"Yeah. She said he left her before I was born and it was because of me." she said, clueless.

"Lexi, I'm gonna tell you a secret. Your daddy doesn't know that you exist. He didn't KNOW your mommy was gonna have a baby when he left. And he would have come back to take care of you and love you if he knew. And your mommy told him she didn't love him, so he never saw her again. He never knew you were born." I said.

Lexi nodded, but I could tell she didn't actually know what I was talking about. i didn't want to tell her that I was her father. I could never give her up if she knew. I gave James a helpless look and went on driving.

"Los-" James said after a while. He was talking quietly, stealing glances at Lexi.

"What?"

"I think you should get a DNA test first." he said. "Just cause- don't you wanna know for sure?"

"I DO know for sure."

"No you don't!" he said. "You can't trust old ladies who dump children on you."

"And what is this test gonna do? If she isn't mine, whatever- I'll give her away. If she is, I'm still gonna give her away." I shrugged.

"You can't without knowing." he said.

"But it'll take weeks before the results show up."

"So we keep her." James said perkily.

"She's not a DOG, James." I snapped. "We'd have to feed her and bathe her and find her a place to sleep."

James groaned and turned around to look at Lexi, who was staring out the window.

"She's so damn CUTE." he said. "I just don't want you to give her away."

"I'm twenty years old, James. I wear a HOCKEY HELMET as often as I wear underwear. I eat dinosaur nuggets. I live with my three best friends. I sing for teenage girls, yet I don't have a girlfriend. I can't take care of her." I said.

"You don't have to! Me and Kendall and Logan will, too. She'll be our little mascot. Dora." he grinned.

"My daughter will NOT be the band mascot." I said. "She's going to a nice foster home with a nice family."

"Please? Get a DNA test, then we can drop her off." he said.

* * *

The doctor took blood from Lexi and I. Lexi was surprisingly tolerant of the process.

"We'll call you with the results in about a week." the nurse said. "But I'm telling you, you two look too alike for it not to be blood."

"How come they took my blood?" Lexi asked as we walked to the car.

"Um- so they could see if you were sick." I said. "You're not."

"Oh." Lexi said, and she surprised me by taking my hand for the first time.

"Look how freeking cute! Why do you hate her?" James scowled.

"You hate me?" Lexi asked, wide eyed.

"No!" I insisted as I buckled her into the back seat. I knew it was unsafe, but I didn't have a car seat.

* * *

"Am I going to live with my daddy?" Lexi asked excitedly. My heart broke.

"No, Lexi. You're gonna live here with these other kids until someone takes you home with them." I said. We were in the office of the director of the place.

"Oh." she said. "Are you coming with me?"

"No."

"Is Mister James?"

"No."

Lexi's eyes got tearful.

"But I'm scared." she said helplessly.

"See that? Made Dora cry." James said in dismay.

"No, no, no, NO! Don't cry!" I said helplessly.

"I'm sorry!" she said, holding her hands to her eyes.

And that's when I really started thinking. This girl was damaged goods. Her mother was a whore- a drugged up whore. Her multiple fathers hit her and god knows what else. None of her siblings shared her blood and she was forced to look after them, being the oldest. And now she was dumped off with these strange guys, who she trusted almost automatically. And now her real father was just- giving her away- without a second thought. He didn't even care enough to tell her that he was her biological father.

Would it be so bad to keep her?

Gustavo would love the publicity I got. They guys already loved her. I make enough money to support her. The fanbase would grow. The guys and I would probably learn responsibility. This innocent little girl could finally be a kid.

But there were cons, too.

For instance, I was a busy guy. With tours and albums and being at the studio, where would SHE go? I would also have no time to be a kid myself. I'd have to find a place for her to sleep. Buy clothes and a carseat and such.

"You're thinkin' about it, aren't you?" James said slyly.

"It's such a bad idea." I said simply.

"She's your flesh and blood, Los." he said. "Doesn't really matter if it's wrong or right. She's your mistake."

I looked down at Lexi and she grinned up at me with those big black eyes, not knowing what we were talking about.

I looked over at James and he gave me a thumbs-up and a smile.

Did I wanna do this?

I guess now I didn't have a choice.

"Do I have to adopt my own child?" I asked the woman. James did a happy dance and I had to sit down and explain the situation to the lady.

In half an hour, I was Lexi's legal guardian.

Guess I had to change her last name now.

* * *

**You guys knew it was coming because of the summary. Sorry. :D**

**Review! :)**


	3. News

We spent the next week cleaning Katie's old room out, which was filled with junk, for Lexi. Meanwhile, she slept in my bed and I slept on the couch. We ALSO bought a few toys, some clothes, a car seat, some kid cups, crayons and markers, kid shampoo, and one kid toothbrush.

The more time I spent with her, the more I liked her. Once she was comfortable with the guys, she was hyper- jumping around everywhere constantly- and really sweet. She liked to color us pictures.

And the paparazzi. They were just eating this up. I was already all over the magazines.

"Don't you think that you should tell her?" Logan asked as we watched Lexi and Kendall wrestle gently on the floor.

"Yeah." I sighed. "But I don't even know if I really am."

"What if you aren't?"

"Then... I guess I can't just UNadopt her." I shrugged.

As if on cue, my phone rang. An unrecognized number.

"Hello?" I answered.

"Is this Carlos Garcia?" said a woman on the other line.

"Yes."

"We have your paternity test results back."

"And?" I asked as Logan looked at me with interest.

"It came back positive." she said. "Congratulations. You'll be getting the results in the mail."

I smiled and nodded.

"Thanks."

After hanging up, a looked at Logan and shrugged.

"So I tell her now."

* * *

I took Lexi out to get ice cream. What kid doesn't like ice cream?

When she got her ice cream, she acted like it was gold. Like she had never had it before. We sat under and umbrella and I hoped that the paparazzi wouldn't show up and ruin this. I was gonna tell her seriously and I didn't want there to be distractions.

"Lexi?" I said as I watched her devour the cone of chocolate ice cream. Her black eyes lifted to me, but she didn't stop eating.

"Did you never get ice cream before?" I asked. It wasn't what I planned, but I'd get around to it. She shook her head.

"I never had it before." she said. "Only saw it on TV."

I siged and shook my head.

"Thank you Mister Carlos. For the ice cream." she said. I couldn't help but grin.

"Your welcome." I said. "But you don't have to call me Mister Carlos. Just Carlos is okay."

She nodded.

"Did you have to call Tim 'Mister Tim'?" I asked. She nodded again.

C'mon, Carlos. What're you waiting for? Just tell her!

I'm AFRAID that she'll call me Daddy.

I'm AFRAID that she'll get attached to me.

I'm AFRAID that I'll get attached to her.

I'm AFRAID that she'll be sad that I wasn't there for her first three years.

I'm just AFRAID.

But why is it so bad that she call me Daddy? It's cute. And I AM her Daddy. And why is it bad that we get attached to each other? She's not going anywhere.

"You remember when I told you that I knew your Daddy?" I asked. Lexi was now slowing down on her eating and nodded.

"Yeah... See, the thing is... I AM your Daddy." I said nervously. She stopped eating and I had to grin at the ice cream around her mouth.

"Really?" she asked.

"Yup. Remember when we had to have our blood taken a while ago? Well they tested it and it turns out that I really am your dad." I nodded.

"I'm glad." Lexi said.

"You know, me too." I said thoughtfully. "But hey. You don't have to call me Dad. You can just start off with Carlos."

"Okay." she nodded. "I never called anyone Daddy before. Except Mister Thomas. He made me call him Daddy sometimes."

My heart sunk. This sounded like a sick fetish.

"Hey, Lexi?"

"What?"

"Did any of your Mommy's boyfriends ever... Touch you places that you didn't wanna be touched?" I asked. "Like under your clothes?"

"Sometimes." Lexi said, avoiding my eyes.

"Did they ever take off their pants and make you touch them in places you didn't want to touch?" I asked.

"Mister Thomas tried to one time. But then Mommy stopped him and made him go away." she said.

I put down my ice cream and put my face in my hands.

"How come you're sad?" Lexi asked as she finished her ice cream.

"Lexi, NOBODY is supposed to touch you there. And you're not supposed to touch them there." I said. "That's called rape."

"Is it bad?"

"Promise me you'll NEVER let anyone do that again. Okay? Only me and James and Kendall and Logan and a doctor are allowed to see you without clothes. Okay?" I said seriously. "OKAY?"

"Okay." she nodded.

"And promise me you won't ever touch ANYONE under their clothes. Not anyone." I said. "Promise?"

"Not even you?"

"ESPECIALLY not me." I said, wanting to laugh but didn't.

"Okay. I promise."

It's one way to keep your daughter from having sex.

I smiled and reached across the table to wipe her mouth.

"Wanna go home and maybe go swimming?" I asked, wiggling my brows.

In the car, Lexi fell asleep in her pink car seat. I carried her inside, where James and Kendall were cuddling around while watching Family Guy and Logan was off with Camille I guessed.

After putting Lexi in her bed, I plopped face down on the carpet.

"Did you tell her?" Kendall asked.

"Yeah."

"And?"

"Oh, it was great. Until I found out that some sick dude made her call him Daddy and freaking sexually harassed her several times. A bunch of Tiffany's little boyfriends did it." I said angrily.

"Wow." James said, wide eyed with shock.

"That poor little girl! What a shit life she's had! She's only three!" I said, sitting up. "Guys, she'd NEVER had ice cream before today."

Kendall's brows shot up.

"Are we going swimming?" came a little voice and I looked over to the door to Katie's old room, Lexi standing their sleepily.

"Yeah- are you done sleeping?" I asked. Lexi nodded and I looked at Kendall and James.

"Down for the pool?" I asked.

"Fuck yeah." James said. "Oh- I mean FREAK yeah."

* * *

"He's so good with her." James said dreamily as me and him sat on the side of the pool, feet in the water. We were watching Kendall play with Lexi in the water- she had a little duck float that kept her from drowning.

"Yeah." I agreed. "She really likes him."

"Everyone does." he said, then his eyes caught something and he let out a low whistle. I followed his gaze to a red headed girl making her way across the pool to the lobby and went inside.

"Not saying I'd tap that, cause that's wrong." he said. "But I think someone needs to tap that. And I think that someone should be you."

"Yeah right." I said, rolling my eyes.

"Dude- c'mon." James said. "She's a ginger! You love gingers!"

"Since when?" I laughed.

"Since you saw that chick and thought to yourself 'damn. That's a nice bod.'" James said.

After we were done at the pool, I lead Lexi inside by the hand, wrapped in a towel. James and Kendall trailed behind us.

"LOS! THE FREAKING GIRL!" James whispered, kicking my butt to get my attention. My eyes fell on the red headed girl in sea-foam green shorts and a yellow tank top, her firey hair falling over her shoulders, invaded with orange highlights. She was hitting the vending machine angry, growling to herself.

"Go freaking help her!" James hissed. I looked back at him, unsure, and both he and Kendall gave me cheesy thumbs up.

"Don't take Lexi! It'll scare the ginger away!" Kendall hissed, taking Lexi's hand from mine. "C'mon, Dora. Your father is gonna go tap that."

"What does that mean? Is he gonna hit the girl?" I heard Lexi ask innocently as they hurried away.

"Check it- if you confuse the hell outta it, it just kinda gives up and gives you a bunch of Fruit Smackers." I said to the girl as I walked up to her. I began pressing buttons like crazy until eventually three packs of Fruit Smackers rained down.

The girl grinned and bent to pick them up, then offered a pack to me.

Seeing her face was even better.

She had pale skin and freckles across her nose. Her eyes were light greenish blue. She had eyeliner and pretty light blue eye shadow on with a touch of lip gloss. Her hair actually had a strand of blue in it, too.

"I'm good, actually." I said, shaking my head. "Keep it for another time."

She nodded.

"Thanks." she said. Her voice was a scratchy one. It sounded like Jennifer Lawrence's voice. "I'm Alison, just by the way."

"Carlos."

"I swear I don't usually look like a clown with all this makeup and stuff. I just came from an audition." she said, waving at her face.

"I think it's pretty."

Stupid Carlos. C'mon! Why don't you just put on your helmet and burp the alphabet to her? Some things never change about a guy, I guess.

"Did I see you with some little girl?"

"Oh- yeah."

"Was that your sister or something?"

For a second I considered saying yes, but then decided against it.

"It's my daughter." I said nervously.

"Really?" she asked. "You don't look old enough. You're what- seventeen?"

"I'm twenty." I laughed. She giggled, embarrassed.

"So where's mom?" she asked.

"I dunno- she's actually dead somewhere. I kinda just got custody of my daughter. Just found out she exists, actually."

"Woah." she said.

"I'm sorry." I groaned.

"I actually have to go. Got another audition in like five minutes. But hit me up. I wanna hear this story- sounds good." she said and I realized she had stolen my phone and was just now putting it back in my pocket. "And I swear I'm not a freak. I've actually never been smooth in front of a guy before. So eh- yeah. Anytime."

I watched Alison hurry out of the Palm Woods, brow cocked, before making my way up to my apartment.

* * *

"How'd it go?" James asked excitedly.

"She gave me her number. And told me to 'hit her up'." I said in wonder as I sat down.

"Fudge yeah." James said in approval.

* * *

**Review! I swear it'll get better. Once Carlos loosens up around Lexi. It will.**


	4. Totally Meant The Waltons

The guys and I were at the studio. I had left Lexi with Mrs. Knight and Katie- their house was out of the way from the route to work, but they were the only ones available.

Lexi cried when I left. It broke my heart to have to ignore it, but I had to get to the studio. I hadn't been to work in forever. It didn't occur to me that Lexi didn't trust Mrs. Knight or Katie. She had crazy trust issues and it didn't help that her own father left her with complete strangers.

Kendall calmed her down a LITTLE just by telling her that they were his mom and sister. She really looked up to Kendall, so it made her feel safer.

But she still cried when we left. But I knew that Mrs. Knight knew kids and would know how to calm her down.

So we worked on a bunch of tour stuff- mainly dancing.

"Uh- Gustavo? What do we do with Dora when we go on tour?" Kendall asked.

"Dora?"

"My daughter. Lexi." I explained.

"I don't CARE. Leave her here, take her with you. But don't let it be a distraction."

* * *

"Where're we going?" Lexi asked as I took her hand, our duffle bags in my other hand.

"We're going EVERYWHERE, Lex." I explained as James took the bags from me and I lead Lexi out. "We're gonna be on a bus and do concerts all over America."

"Oh." she said. "Are we coming back?"

"In about three months." I said. "But it'll be fun."

As we approached the bus outside, I picked Lexi up and took her inside. I showed her the kitchen, bunks, TV, everything. She seemed excited as everyone boarded and we set off.

"Where're we going?" she asked Logan as they looked out the window at the passing buildings.

"Some place in California- a few hours away." Logan explained. "Tomorrow night we're gonna do a concert for a bunch of fans."

"Hm." she said. "What about me?"

"You're gonna be backstage and Donna is gonna take care of you. She's a costume chick, so she doesn't have too much to do DURING the concert."

"I'm hungry." she said suddenly.

"Tell Carlos." he smirked. Lexi turned and climbed down from the couch.

"Daddy, I'm hungry." she said. I stared at her, wide eyed. Sure- we had grown close over these few months. But this was the first time she called me Daddy.

"Yeah, Daddy. Me, too." Kendall said, nudging me with a smirk.

"Uh- okay." I said, getting up. I got Lexi and Kendall some cookies, which they shared happily.

"Guess you're balls deep now, man." James said from the floor. "She called you Daddy."

"That's okay." I said more to myself than him. "I AM her Daddy after all."

"Sure you're cool with it?"

"Yeah. I mean... I think it's cute." I shrugged.

* * *

"I'll be back in like- an hour to change clothes. Okay?" I said, squatting before Lexi. "Be good for Donna."

"Okay." she nodded.

"Okay." I smiled and kissed her on the forehead before standing up and hurrying over to the other guys to do our rituals and go onstage.

As promised, I came back an hour later. To no Lexi.

"Donna! Where the hell is my daughter?" I asked in a panic.

"I DON'T KNOW!" she said, at the verge of tears. I changed as quick as possible and rushed around backstage, looking with Kendall.

"Guys! We have to go out there!" Logan demanded. "She's fine!"

"Go on out and stall them!" I said in a panicky voice. "We'll find her!"

So James and Logan went on out on stage and I heard them talking to the audience. I glanced at a TV showing the stage to see Logan and James sitting on the stage, telling jokes and such.

"LEXI!" I called.

"DORA!" Kendall called.

We looked for about five minutes before Kendall found her beneath the snack bar, munching on corndogs.

"LOS! I found her!" Kendall called and I rushed to him to find him holding Lexi in his arm.

"Alexis I TOLD you to be good for Donna!" I scowled as he put her down and I bent down to look at her. "And you ran away from her!"

I took her hand and hurried her back to Donna.

"Stay with her." I said, eyes firey. "I'm late now- I have to hurry."

"I'm sorry, Daddy." she said, black eyes wide and tearful.

"C'mon, Kendall." I growled, pulling him back on stage.

"Sorry, guys!" I said through the mic, plastering on a happy face and a good mood.

"Dora the Explorer was loose backstage." Kendall explained. "We had to find her. And Los made her cry."

"You made her cry?" James squeaked.

"Hey! Why don't we bring her out here?" Kendall suggested. "Do you guys wanna see Dora?"

The audience cheered and Kendall shot me a look. I sighed and sprinted backstage to find Lexi, who was sulking on a crate.

"Lex!" I called, swooping to pick her up. "Wassa matter?"

"You're mad at me." she said, wiping at her eyes and long lashes.

"I'm sorry. But I thought you were lost somewhere and I thought you were in danger. Sometimes daddies have to yell at their babies so that the babies don't do bad stuff anymore." I explained. "But hey- wanna come out on stage with me and meet my fans?"

Lexi smiled and nodded, so I brought her on stage. Immediately there was an "awe" from the crowd.

"Guys, this is Lexi- my daughter." I said.

"AKA Dora. Cause I mean, look at her. She IS Dora the Explorer." Kendall said.

James went up to Lexi, covered his mic, and pointed out Lexi's image on the huge screen behind us. She looked at it and immediately buried her face in my shoulder, getting another "AAAWE".

"Okay, guys- I guess they wanna actually see us perform now. It's what they paid for." I said into the mic. "Lex, say bye to the Rushers!"

Lexi waved bashfully as I took her backstage.

* * *

"Did you have a fun day?" I asked Lexi, kneeling beside her bunk. On the top left was Kendall and James, then below them was Logan, across from him is Lexi, then above her in me.

"It was scary to go on stage." she said.

"Yeah- it's always scary the first time." I said with a shrug.

"How come they all said 'awe'?"

"How come you ask so many questions all the time?" Logan asked jokingly, sliding into his bunk.

"Cause she's curious, butthole." Kendall said, lightly smacking Logan's cheek before climbing to his bunk with James. It was a small bunk, but Kendall was happy to give up his bunk for Lexi.

"They all said awe because they thought you were cute." I explained. "Cause- well they think I'm cute. And you look a lot like me, plus you're a little girl, so they loved you automatically."

"What're we doing tomorrow?"

"We're just driving tomorrow." I said. "No concerts."

"Oh."

"Okay- lights out." I said. "Night."

"Night. I love you."

I blushed, hearing the guys behind me hoot "aaaaawe".

"Love you, too." I said, kissing her forehead. It was the first time we had said that, but it felt right.

"Good night, Uncle Kenny." Lexi called as I turned off her light and closed her privacy curtain.

"Are we the Brady family now?" James gushed.

"Goodnight, Dora. Love your guts." Kendall called.

"Goodnight, Uncle Jamie." Lexi called.

"Goodnight, Dora." James called back.

"Goodnight, Uncle Logie."

"Goodnight, Dora."

"Goodnight, Daddy."

"Goodnight, Lex." I sighed. "Go to sleep now, okay?"

"Okay." Lexi yawned.

* * *

**I think it was a good chapter to bring Carlos and Lexi together.**

**Review! :)**


	5. Birthday

It was the night of a huge, tiring concert. We did a meet and greet and were out until about 3 am- of course Lexi fell asleep backstage, so I carried her to bed. We were done with the tour and were going home- tomorrow was the last day on the road, then home.

We were all exhausted and fell asleep instantly when we got to bed on the bus.

Anyway, I was about half asleep when I heard whimpering and tiny feet on the floor.

"Daddy? Daddy?" I heard through the mistiness of my half-consciousness. I didn't quite wake up or move until I heard her trying to climb the ladder. I sat up and looked down through the darkness to see her halfway up the ladder, looking up at me.

"Wassa matter?" I grumbled.

"I had a bad dream." she said. "I'm scared."

"Don't you know that Logan'll protect you down there?" I asked.

"He's asleep." Lexi whimpered. "I wanna be up there with you."

I sighed and reached down to pull her up. She crawled under the blankets beside me and pulled my arm over her, hugging my forearm, arm cheek against my palm.

I fell asleep again instantly.

* * *

"Wake UP!" James squealed in a shrill voice, jumping on me and shaking me.

"WHAT?" I groaned. We were almost home - just one more day on the road.

"It's your freaking daughter's birthday! Wake the fuck up!" James said, bouncing.

"You're gonna break the bed and KILL my daughter." I said, sitting up.

"She's already up- like a champ." James said, ninja jumping from the bunk and landing on the floor. "And she wants to go to Waffle House. She even used her adorableness to convince the driver to stop. So get dressed!"

I groaned and got up to get dressed. I wondered what time Lexi was born... I wish I had been there.

"Hi, Daddy! It's my birthday!" Lexi said excitedly as I came out into the living room area.

"I know it is! Happy birthday!" I grinned, reaching down to ruffle her hair with both my hands.

"Hey! I worked HARD to make it look like it did." James scowled, karate chopping my leg. "Now I gotta fix it."

He pulled Lexi to him so that he could comb through her black hair. It was about an inch above her shoulders and was pretty curly.

We went to Waffle House and sat in a big wrap-around booth. I noticed some people outside and in other booths taking pictures.

"This place is gross. Completely unhealthy for a child's fourth birthday." Logan grumbled, looking disgusted.

"The danger of catching something serious here is most of the fun!" Kendall said cheerily. "But the food is crazy awesome."

I held the menu between me and Lexi, reading off things I thought she might like. I didn't say much about waffles- Lexi was bad at eating them. She always got syrup everywhere. She somehow noticed the tiny picture of awesome looking waffles with a smiley face on them and pointed to them.

"Can I have that?" she asked, looking at me with big black eyes. I shrugged.

"Course you can. That's my favorite." I smiled. "But even though it's your birthday, you still have to be careful with the syrup."

We got our food a while later and I cut up her waffles for her- she only got two small ones- and set to work on my own. She DID end up getting syrup everywhere, so after we got done, I took her to the bathroom.

"That's not the right one." Lexi said as she stopped walking, seeing that I was leading her to the men's restroom. "I go in that one." she pointed at the women's.

"But Daddy can't go in there cause the ladies in there will get offended. C'mon, it's okay." I bent down to pick her up and take her into the bathroom, where I covered her eyes from the men peeing in the stalls. I sat her on the sink and told her not to look behind me because she would see something gross (the guys peeing) and washed the stickiness off of her hands with a wet paper towel.

"It's yucky in here." Lexi said, looking around.

"I told you not to look around in here, Alexis." I tisked and took her back out.

"I don't like it when you call me Alexis." she said, scrunching up her nose.

"What would you rather me call you? Lexi?"

"No."

"Then what? Frankenstein?" I laughed, thinking of the movie, Big Daddy.

"No! That's a boy name." she laughed. "Call me a name that Daddies call their babies."

I thought a second.

"There's Baby Girl. Angel. Princess-"

"I don't like those." she said. "Mister Tim used to call me those names."

"Someday I'm gonna beat the crap outta this Tim guy." I said seriously.

"Why?"

"Cause he liked to act like your daddy, but I'm your daddy. He was a sick guy."

"He wasn't sick." she said, confused.

"I mean- he was insane in the membrane." I grinned, making her laugh as we reached the booth.

"What're we doing today?" Kendall asked as the waitress took up our plates.

"What does LEXI wanna do today?" I asked Lexi, who had moved to the other side of the booth to sit with Kendall, who was helping her color a coloring page that the waitress gave her.

"I wanna go to the zoo." Lexi said excitedly.

"I dunno, Dora." Kendall said doubtfully. "We gotta get home."

"Tell you what. We'll go to the zoo when we get home. Promise." I said. "Pick something that we can do on the bus."

"Like what?"

"We could... Turn the whole bus into a fort." James suggested. "Pull out the mattresses from the bunks, the cushions from the couch, pillows, covers, everything. Play army guys."

"That's a boy game." Lexi said doubtfully.

"We're all boys except you." Logan said flatly. "I think it's time you accept that."

"It'll be fun." I said excitedly. "And we can eat cake in the fort- oh that reminds me. We need to find a Walmart to get cake and ice cream and candy and soda and more darts for the guns."

"You're gonna let her eat all that SUGAR?" James asked, brows raised. I usually avoided sugar with Lexi because of her naturally high energy level.

"It's her birthday." Kendall scowled, punching James's arm.

"Hey! Don't hit!" Lexi said angrily, black eyes on Kendall.

"That's right, Lex. No hitting." I said sternly to Kendall. "Good job."

* * *

I had Logan go back to the bus while we went to Walmart because I never got a chance to wrap Lexi's present. It was an American Girl doll- I customized it on my iPhone to look just like Lexi with dark skin, black eyes, black hair, everything. It wasn't one of those weird midget dolls- I got a baby version. Lexi really liked baby dolls and I knew she couldn't nurture a doll that's just like a grown person in small form, so I got one of the cute baby ones that had a porcelain head and arms, but soft everything else. It had fine black hair on its head... A little creepy if you ask me, but I knew Lexi would love it.

After we got back, we made a huge fort on the bus. A mattress roofed the space between the counter of the kitchen and the table, then the rest roofed the space between the couch and TV. We draped open spaces with blankets and cushioned the walls with pillows.

We spent most of the day crawling army-style in the tunnels and shooting darts at each other. Kendall gave Lexi her gift from the guys early, which was a pink Nerf dart gun with a huge ammo holder. She was happy to shoot the crap out of us with it when we played.

After that, we ate cake and ice cream and pizza, which we got at a Papa John's we were passing. Lexi opened her present from me and spent the rest of the night playing with it. The guys and I took down the fort, leaving a little tent for her to play in.

We ate more cake and more pizza.

"I don't feel good, Daddy." Lexi said innocently to me, lip jutted out.

"Why not?"

"My belly hurts."

"Crap. Forgot that kids like to puke a lot." I said, scrunching up my nose.

"Have fun with that." James said, brows lifted.

It was only a matter of time before Lexi was puking in the toilet. It was pink mostly- from the frosting.

After she told me she was done and her belly felt better, I flushed the toilet and carried her to the kitchen. I made her drink Sprite and eat pretzels, Logan's orders, something about those things settling the stomach.

"Are you sure your tummy doesn't hurt anymore?" I asked cautiously.

"It feels okay now. I ate too much." she said.

"You can't eat as much as Daddy does, Pumpkin. Daddy has a bigger belly than you do."

"Okay." she nodded. "Where's my baby?"

I looked around and ordered James to bring the doll from the couch. Lexi took it and cradled it in her arms.

"Let's brush our teeth and get to bed." I said, lifting her from the counter and setting her on the floor where she went to the bathroom and we brushed our teeth.

"If your tummy starts hurting again, just tell me, okay?" I said seriously. "I'll give you more Sprite to make it feel better."

She nodded and nestled into the bed with her doll by her side.

"You had a bad dream last night?" I asked, suddenly remembering her sleeping with me last night.

"Yeah."

"Was there monsters?"

"Yes."

"Are you too scared to tell me about it?"

"No." Lexi said, straightening up. "I had a dream that you and the other boys left me at a concert so I was there alone in the dark. And I saw glowing eyes and I screamed and ran away, but it got me. And then I woke up."

"We would never leave you alone at a concert." I said reassuringly. "And monsters aren't real."

"I was still scared."

"But if that did happen, I would remember that I left you and come back for you. Then I'd see the monster and kill it before it got you." I said.

"I know."

"Okay, I kept you up later than you should be up." I sighed. "Time for sleep. I hope you had a happy birthday. You're barely a baby anymore- you're a whole four years old!"

"Was I cute when I was a baby?"

"I- I don't know... I wasn't there. I never saw you as a baby." I said quietly. "But I imagine you looked about like your baby."

She looked over at her doll and grinned.

"Her name is Sophie." she said. "Uncle Logan named her."

"That's a perfect name."

Lexi yawned and nodded.

"Okay- goodnight." I said.

"Night. Love you."

"Love you, too." I smiled and kissed her forehead. "We'll be home when you wake up."

"Good. I miss home."

"Me too."

* * *

**Gahh... Okay, truth time. I kinda dove into this story with zero direction. I mean, normally I have SOME idea of what i want to happen and just write, but i don't with this one. no freaking idea where this story is going... so PM me or review any ideas... PLEASE. **


	6. Date

_Lexi sat on the dirty floor of the trailer with her five other half-brothers and half-sisters. She was playing with Barbies with her half-sister, Zoe, who was a year younger than she was._

_"I'm leaving. Be good for Tim!" her mother, Tiffany, said to the kids. She blew them kisses before leaving. Despite the drugs and the many boyfriends, she really did TRY to take care of her kids._

_"Bye Mommy!" they chimed.  
_

_Lexi turned back to the dolls, changing the dress on hers. Suddenly her arm was grabbed and she was pulled to her feet, forced to drop the doll. She looked up to see Tim pulling her to the bathroom. He was old- about forty- and was balding with greying brown hair. He wore wife-beater shirts and rarely ever wore pants- just boxers._

_"It's bath time, Angel." he said, closing the door. He turned on the water and plugged up the hole._

_"I'm not dirty." Lexi said, confused._

_"Mommy told me to make sure you had a bath." Tim assured her- it was a lie, of course. He said it because he knew that all the kids trusted their mother._

_Tim lifted the shirt over Lexi's head, then took her pants and underwear off. Lexi slowly got into the water and jumped._

_"The water is cold, Mister Tim." she said helplessly._

_"Sit down, Baby Girl. And I told you- I'm not Tim. I'm Daddy." Tim said sternly. Lexi slowly sunk into the cold water and Tim's hands were on her- soapy- rubbing her chest and down her stomach to her private parts._

_"Daddy's gonna get in there with you now." Tim said eagerly, getting up and stripping naked. Lexi had seen boy parts before- she had brothers, after all, but she had never seen one like that one. It was standing up..._

_"You look curious, Angel. Touch it." Tim grinned. Lexi quickly shook her head, wrapping her arms around herself tightly. Tim's expression turned dark and he pried her hand from her side. Lexi struggled as he tried to force her hand to touch his boy part..._

_The door opened._

_"TIM!" came Tiffany's voice. Tim let go of Lexi's hand and Tiffany hurried to her daughter, lifting her out of the water and wrapping a towel around her._

_"Don't you EVER touch her again, Tim!" Tiffany said dangerously. "NEVER!"_

_"We have a special bond, Tiff! She likes it!" Tim argued._

_"Bull SHIT! That's rape, Tim!" _

_As soon as Lexi saw Tim's hand pull back, she bolted out of the bathroom and hid in the closet in hers and her sister's room, shivering in the towel. She didn't like Tim a whole lot. Sometimes he was nice, but he touched her under her clothes a lot... And he hit Mommy a lot... He hit HER a lot._

_"WHERE IS SHE?" she heard Tim yell to the other kids. She pressed herself into the back of the dark closet, heart pounding. She watched Tim tear the room apart through the crack in the closet door until he tore it open._

_"We don't run from Daddy, Angel." Tim growled, jerking Lexi to her feet violently. She saw out the door that Mommy was on the floor with her eyes closed._

_All the other kids ran and hid as they heard Lexi's shrill screams as Tim 'took care of her'. He rarely ever 'took care' of THEM, just Lexi._

_"Daddy's not mad, Angel. I just don't like it when you run from me- like you're SCARED of me." Tim said, cradling the child in his arms after the beating. "You're not scared of me, are you?"_

_Lexi swallowed hard, knowing what would happen if she said yes. She shook her head quickly._

_"Good. Now tell Daddy you love him."_

_"I love you, Daddy." Lexi said quietly._

_"I love you too, Baby Girl." Tim smiled, yellow teeth showing. "Now give me a kiss."_

_Lexi shook her head and covered her mouth with both hands._

_"Alexis-" he said in a warning voice. He knew that he hated to be called Alexis. He pried her hands from her mouth to press his huge, smelly, wet lips to hers. Sometimes he would force his tongue in her mouth, but not this time. Then he tossed her on her bed and left. _

_Lexi laid there, shivering, crying, until her mother came and knelt before her bed, stroking Lexi's hair._

_"How come Daddy hits us?" Lexi asked._

_"He's not your daddy, Lexi." Tiffany said quietly. "He's nothing like your daddy. Your daddy would never hit you. Never be mean to you."  
_

_"I wanna go be with HIM."_

_Tiffany pursed her lips sympathetically and shook her head._

_"Sometimes I do, too." she said, then got up and kissed Lexi's forehead. She helped Lexi up and dressed her in her PJ's._

_Lexi laid in bed for a while, in the dark, and he soon smelled the familiar smell that happened before Mommy and Mister Tim got really happy. A smell that Lexi hated, but apparently it brought joy to the grown-ups._

* * *

"Lexi!" I called through the apartment.

"What?" she yelled back. I went to her room, where she was on the floor with Logan, playing with Barbies. He was the only one who was allowed to play with Babies with her, because if James and Kendall did, they always said inappropriate things about lesbian sex parties.

"Bath time." I said.

"Oh, dang." Logan said. "That sucks."

"But I'm playing!" she groaned.

"We I have to go soon and you need a bath." I said sternly. "So c'mon. It'll be quick."

I finally got Lexi into the water, nice and hot the way she liked it. I squeezed soap onto her little pink loofa thing and gave it to her for her to clean herself. While she did, I quickly washed her hair to save time. After all this, we used cups to pour water and get the suds off of her.

She pulled the plug and I wrapped a towel around her, following her to her room and setting out underwear and PJs for her to dress in.

"I'll see you later, Pumpkin." I said, turning Lexi's face up to kiss her cheek after she was settled onto the couch with Kendall to watch Shrek.

"Where are you going?" she asked sadly.

"I'm going to eat dinner with a girl." I explained.

"What kind of a girl? Do you have another baby?"

"No- a grown-up girl." I laughed. "Be good for Kendall, okay?"

"Okay." she smiled and I left.

James had talked me into calling that red-headed girl, Alison, and setting up a date.

* * *

"Hi." I said nervously as I approached Alison. She looked REALLY pretty in a robin-egg blue tank top and shorts, her red hair curly over her shoulders. She had a bit of eye-liner on, but that was it.

"Hey." she smiled. She turned out to be a bit taller than me, even WITHOUT the heals. She was wearing flip-flops.

We drove to a fancy restaurant and ate.

"So tell me about your kid." she said politely as we ate.

"Her name is Lexi- she just turned four. She's really sweet, despite her horrible background."

"What do you mean?"

"I was dating this girl, then I moved here and we broke up. Well, three years later, Lexi shows up at my door- the lady told me that the chick I dated died and Lexi was my kid. I was gonna give her up for adoption but didn't." I explained. "She used to get crazy abused by her mom's boyfriends... Sexually AND physically."

"That's horrible." Alison said, brows upturned.

"Now she's really close with me and my friends." I said. "She's okay now."

"So you're a good daddy?" she smiled.

"I like to think so." I smiled back.

XXXXXXX

"I had a really great time." Alison said at the door to her apartment.

"Me too." I said. "You wanna do something another time?"

"Yeah- text me. I've got a lot of auditions and stuff, but I'll definitely make it work." she said. "I hope to meet Lexi sometime."

I smiled and nodded and she hugged me before going inside.

* * *

"So? How'd it go?" James asked when I got home. Lexi was already in bed.

"Really good." I said.

"Gonna go out again?"

"Yeah."

"Think it'll turn into something?"

"I hope so."

"How does she feel about Lexi?"

"She's really interested in her and wants to meet her soon, but I really wanna make sure she's okay before she does." I said.

"Good call." James nodded.

* * *

**Thanks to sarahc1995 and Jacob's Imprint Renesmee for the help! :)  
**

**Review!**


	7. Yet More Heart Break

"Oh, hi." I smiled as James brought Alison into the living room, where I was putting Lexi's shoes on. It was two months after our first date and I was pretty proud to call her my girlfriend.

I picked up Lexi and brought her over to Alison.

"Lex, this is Alison, my girlfriend. Alison, this is Lexi." I introduced. Alison grinned and shook Lexi's hand, Lexi looking confused. "She's going to the zoo with us today."

"Oh." Lexi said, holding on tighter to me. "Why?"

Alison looked down in a bit of shame and I sighed.

"Lexi, that was rude." I said.

"I just wanna know." Lexi pouted.

"She's coming with us because she's my girlfriend and I wanna spend time with her. And cause she wants to spend time with you." I explained. "So why don't you go get Kendall and tell him we're leaving?"

I let her down and she ran off.

"I'm sorry. She's young and doesn't know that what she's saying is rude." I said apologetically to Alison.

"No problem." she shrugged.

"Plus she's not used to women." I explained.

"I get it."

Soon Lexi came out of Kendall's room, dragging Kendall behind her.

"I'm coming!" Kendall groaned. He smiled and waved at Alison- me and her and he and James had gone on a double date before.

* * *

Alison and I held hands in the zoo, Lexi holding my other hand. Once she realized that Alison had the opposite hand, she looked hurt and ran ahead to Logan- the only one without a partner- to hold his hand.

"I don't think she likes me." Alison said.

"She just doesn't like to share is all." I said reassuringly. "Give it til the end of the night- I guarantee she'll warm up to you."

There were some paparazzi at the zoo- like normal- taking pictures. Alison seemed to walk closer to me, smile more, even kissed me a few times, when she saw the cameras.

"Daddy?" Lexi said quietly as we were looking at the giraffes. She looked up and Alison and cowered away a little.

"Yup?"

"Can I get some ice cream?" she asked, eyes on Alison.

"Yeah. Al, do you want some?" I asked Alison. She shook her head and I let go of her hand to pick up Lexi and take her to the ice cream stand.

"I don't like that girl." Lexi said, seeming troubled, as we waited in line. I looked back to see James and Kendall and Logan talking and joking with her.

"Why?"

"Cause she's tall is scary." Lexi said uncomfortably.

"Kendall and James are even taller than her." I said.

Lexi's black eyes lifted to me unsurely.

"You have to learn to share, Pumpkin." I said seriously. "Alison's my girlfriend- she's a big part of my life now. And if you can't share me, then there's gonna be problems."

Lexi nodded and laid her head on my shoulder as we waited.

After getting us both ice cream, we continued with the zoo until we were finished.

Lexi fell asleep in the car and Alison acted kind of tired and cranky, too, so I was quiet as I drove- Kendall, James and Logan in the other car. We were going to a pizza place for dinner.

"Did you have fun?" I asked, nudging Alison.

"Sure." she said enthusiastically.

"S'wrong?"

"Nothing."

I shrugged and parked in the pizza place beside James's car. Kendall opened Lexi's door and woke her up, gently picking her up out of her car seat.

As we sat in the pizza parlor, Alison still seemed uninterested in anything.

Until the paparazzi showed up outside. Then she scooted close to me and perked up...

* * *

"I'll see you tomorrow." I said, hugging Alison and stepping back to take Lexi's hand. Me and Lexi and Alison were outside her door.

"Yeah. See ya."

"Sure you're okay?"

"I'm fine."

"Did the cameras freak you out?"

"No- I LOVE the cameras. I wish they would have been there MORE."

"Oh. Okay... Well bye."

"Bye. Bye, Lexi."

Lexi shyly waved as Alison went inside.

"She's weird." Lexi said simply as I took her to the elevator.

"No she isn't."

"She acted weird today."

"She always acts that way."

"She's not fun enough."

"Lexi, please." I snapped. "That's just the way she is."

Lexi was silent as we entered 2J.

"Hey, Dora!" Kendall called. "Come help me make these brownies!"

Lexi lit up and ran to the kitchen. I followed her to see James sitting on the counter, Kendall standing between his legs, both looking down at Lexi.

"What's the brownies for?" I asked.

"Cause brownies are delicious." James said as Kendall backed out from between his knees to get a stool for Lexi to stand on.

"Don't let her hurt herself." I said sternly but half-heartedly as I turned out of the kitchen.

"HEY!" James called and he rushed to me. "What's goin' on?"

"Nothing."

"Bull shit. You've been my best friend forever- I know that something's up."

"It's just that Lexi doesn't like Alison. She says she acts weird." I sighed. James was silent, breaking eye-contact with me.

"What? You don't AGREE, do you?" I snapped.

"She's a gold-digger for publicity, Los." he said quietly.

"What does that even mean?"

"It MEANS that she doesn't give two rat's asses about you. She just cares about being SEEN with you. Didn't you happen to notice that she's a complete BITCH til the paparazzi shows up?" James said. "Lexi's right. Even if she DID care about you, she's all wrong. You need someone little and cute and bubbly. Not HER."

"Whatever." I spat, turning angrily and going into my room to change into PJ's. I laid in my bed and got on the internet for a long time, fuming over all this. I was FALLING for Alison. And those closest to me hated her.

An hour later, Lexi came in with a little plate with two brownies on it.

"I brought you brownies." she said innocently, setting the plate on my bed. I helped her up.

"Thanks, Pumpkin." I sighed.

"Are you mad? Jamie said you were mad." she said, black eyes big.

"Yeah." I said, setting the brownies and laptop aside.

"Why?" Lexi asked, sitting in my lap. I wrapped my arms around her and sighed.

"Cause I love Alison, honey. And you and Jamie hate her."

"Oh."

"Yeah. And you're the number one person in my life... And for you not to like her too makes me sad."

"She looks at the cameras a lot. You and Jamie and Kendall and Logan and me- we all ignore the cameras. But she looks at them a lot." she said. I remembered what James said about her being publicity-hungry.

"I know she does." I sighed.

"I don't think she should be your girlfriend anymore."

"I know." I sighed.

"But I still love you." she said sweetly, looking up at me.

"I love you, too." I smiled and kissed her little nose.

* * *

That night I thought about how I would break up with Alison. I knew it was the right thing to do.

I WANTED to do it in public. So the cameras would see. But then I realized that she would LOVE that.

So I decided I'd just go to her apartment and talk to her.

* * *

**I wasn't quite in the zone with this chapter, sorry.**

**Please review?**


	8. Sick- So Much Sick

I knocked on Alison's apartment door and she appeared almost immediately in a flirty dress- ready to go somewhere. I was prepared to break things off with her, but a little sad about it. I really WAS falling for her, after all.

"Oh, Carlos. I was just on my way to an audition." she said, rushing out the door. She was in a frilly dress and heals, all made up for auditions.

"I have to talk to you-" I said, following her.

"Walk me there- It's just across the street." she said as we hurried into the elevator.

We exited the Palm Woods in a hurry.

"Ah- hang on a sec." she said, looking around. I looked around, too, confused.

"Alison, do you only like me for my fame?" I asked.

"I wouldn't say that." she said.

"Well I mean, you only seem to-" suddenly said grabbed my hand and put on a dazzling smile as the paparazzi arrived.

"What're you trying to say, Boo?" she asked me.

I looked around at the cameras and realized I had been taken into a trap.

"Can we talk later?" I asked.

"Honey, I have auditions nonstop all week." she pouted. "Just tell me now."

"Um- I just- I don't think we're working out." I said. Alison stopped, stared at me- eyes wide.

"W-what?"

"I think we should break up."

"Why?"

"Because- eh- well- Lexi isn't so fond of you." I half-lied. "It's nothing personal, just that Lexi is-"

Suddenly Alison burst into dramatic tears- the cameras eating it up. My eyes widened and I stepped back, knowing she was faking it.

"It's not my fault that she doesn't like me!" Alison bawled. "I tried so hard to be a good Mommy!"

I cleared my throat and desperately looked around for some escape.

"I love you, Carlos! You can't leave me!" she cried.

"Um- It's for the best?" I tried and she just whaled and continued on her way to her audition, yelling at me not to follow her. All the paparazzi followed her- just like she wanted- and I hurried back to the Palm Woods.

* * *

When I got back to the apartment, Lexi was curled up in Kendall's lap on the couch, Logan frantically spraying things with Lysol, and James nowhere in sight.

"Hey- what's goin' on?" I asked. I had left before anyone was awake, knowing Alison had auditions early. Lexi looked up and reached a tiny hand out to me, which I took, confused.

"Lexi and James are deathly ill." Kendall explained. "And Logan's paranoid."

I sat down and Lexi climbed pitifully into my lap and I felt her forehead, which nearly singed me.

"Wassa matter, Pumpkin?" I asked.

"My head hurts and my nose is snotty and I'm always hot or cold and I'm really tired." Lexi grumbled, cheek on my chest.

"You should be in bed."

"I wanted to wait for you." she said.

"Well how about you go and lay with Jamie and I'll go and get you guys some Popsicles and ice cream and soup?" I proposed.

"Okay."

I picked her up and carried her into Kendall and James's room, which was dark- curtains together, lights off.

"Jame." I whispered, poking the hard form in the blanket.

"Hm?" he grumbled, poking his head out of the blankets.

"Can Lexi hang with you today?" I asked. "She's sick."

"Yeah." He lifted the blanket to reveal that he was in only gym shorts and I laid Lexi next to him.

"I'll be back. Call for Kendall if you need anything. I guess Logan's probably going to Camille's for the day- doesn't wanna get sick." I said to them.

"Get me blue sherbet." James grumbled.

"I don't think they have blue."

"Get orange then."

"Okay." I laughed. James rolled over to put a massive arm over Lexi's side, who was already cuddled up to him.

"Oh- and get horse-sized... cold pills." James added. "I need it."

* * *

I came back with the stuff- I got Popsicles, orange sherbet, chocolate ice cream, chicken noodle soup, kid's cold medicine, adult cold medicine, and the complete first season of Family Guy. I knew that James loved that show and would be happy to spend all day watching it, but was a little scared to let LEXI spend all day watching it. I knew that she didn't understand any of the jokes, but still.

When I got back to the apartment, Logan was long gone and Mrs. Knight was over, taking Lexi's and James's temperatures.

"It looks like some virus." she said, turning to me. "She's got a crazy high fever. I'm gonna give her a cold bath."

"I can do it." I insisted. She gave me a doubtful look. This was the first time she had ever doubted my parenting skills.

"Okay. I'll get the water going." she finally gave in.

"Ma!" James grumbled. She rolled her eyes and looked over at him. The difference between his REAL mother and Mrs. Knight was what he called them. "Mom" or "Mommy" was Brooke- his real mom. "Mama" or more commonly "Ma" was Mrs. Knight.

"What?"

"I want sherbet." he said pitifully.

"Okay." she laughed before leaving.

"I got Family Guy Season One for you." I said, holding up the case.

After putting the DVD in and handing James the remote, I picked up Lexi, who groaned in pain.

"I'm sorry, Pumpkin." I sighed, holding her close to me as I took her out of the room- her cheek on my shoulder. "You're gonna take a bath. Then you can have some ice cream. Sound good?"

"Okay." she said sleepily as I entered the bathroom, where the cold water was running into the bathtub already. I removed her clothes gently and stood her in the tub, turning off the water.

"No!" Lexi suddenly said, eyes wide, suddenly awake, trying to get out of the water.

"Lexi!"

"No!" she said again.

"Alexis Nadia, sit down." I ordered, taking her feet from beneath her and sitting her in the water.

Suddenly she turned her face to the ceiling and let out an ear-piecing wale of discontent.

"I know it's cold, but it'll make you feel better." I said as she tried to get up. She looked up at me, black eyes full of tears, as she screamed some more. I felt Kendall and Mrs. Knight behind me, staring.

Despite her thrashes and constant fighting, I reached into the water to get some of it onto her skin.

"NOOO!" Lexi cried, finally breaking out of my hold and springing from the water, crashing into Kendall's legs and clinging to them for dear life.

"Alexis!" I scowled, standing, beyond confusion. Yeah- the water was cold. But cold water felt GOOD when you had a raging fever.

I tried to go to her, but she whimpered and hid behind Kendall. I looked up at Mama Knight, confused.

"Never seen THAT happen before." she said.

I bent to pick up Lexi again, but she screamed and fled away, disappearing.

"What. The. Hell." Kendall said, wide eyed. Mama Knight slapped him gently for cussing before I pushed past them in attempt to find my daughter. The first place I checked was James's bedroom, obviously.

I was relieved to find her beneath the blankets, clinging to James, Family Guy blaring in the background.

"So I have to admit- this is a little awkward for me." he said stiffly. I set my jaw angrily at Lexi, who was sniffling, clinging naked to James.

"Alexis, James doesn't like naked girls clinging to him." I said firmly.

"Yeah. I prefer men." he said.

I went to pick up Lexi, but yet again she fled, going to Mama Knight this time.

"C'mon, baby. Let's get you in some clothes and you can tell me what's going on it that little noggin of yours." Mama Knight said gently, taking Lexi's hand. The little girl watched me, horror in her eyes, the whole way out.

I was so confused... SO confused.

* * *

After Lexi was returned in the bed with James, Mama Knight came and sat with me and Kendall in the living room.

"So?" I asked.

"I'm not sure you want to hear what she told me." she murmured, looking down.

"Maybe not. But I need to." I said.

She hesitated before looking up at me.

"She said that 'Mister Tim' used to make her take cold baths. And he would touch her in places she didn't want to be touched. And make HER touch things she didn't want to touch." she said.

My breath caught and I got up in a hurry.

"I'm gonna fucking KILL this Tim guy. He's screwed her up SO MUCH. He's a fucking RAPIST-" I began.

"You can't." Kendall said reasonably, patting his mom's shoulder as she sat in shock at my cussing. "You don't even know his last name. How would you find him?"

"I don't know. But mark my words, Kendall. I'll find him. And I'm gonna beat the SHIT outta him." I snarled.

* * *

**CLIFF HANGER!**

**kinda.**

**Not really.**

**So I'm doing a collab with IHeartLogiebear and it's on her account. it's really really really good- if you like this one, you'll love that one. so check it out!**

**Review! :)**


	9. Tim Getting What He Deserves- Jerkface

I took a while for Lexi to let me near her again. She and James had healed by the next day and she was up and running like usual. Every time I tried coming near her, she'd hide behind the nearest person. It broke my heart, because I was he FATHER. I loved her unconditionally. And she was scarred to the point of being afraid of her own father.

Finally I got her into her room and she allowed me to sit on the floor three feet away from her- under one condition. The door had to be open.

"Lexi, honey, you don't have to be afraid of me. I'm your Daddy. I'm not Tim. I'm not going to hurt you or make you do nasty things. I promise." I said sincerely. It had been two days since the bath incident and I was getting fed up.

"But you made me take a cold bath." she said, hurt. "And I know where cold baths lead to."

I sighed and shook my head.

"I only gave you a cold bath because you had a high fever and I wanted to bring your temperature down." I said. "Really, Pumpkin."

"Mister Tim always made me-"

"I'm not Mister Tim. And he will never get near you again." I interrupted. Lexi nodded and looked down at the ground. "Lex, do you know what Mister Tim's last name was?"

"It was a color." she said. "That's all I remember."

"Okay." I nodded. "And you lived in Minnesota?"

"I think. It was far away from here."

I nodded, taking note in my mind.

"Tim Green?"

"No."

"Tim Brown?"

"No."

"Tim White?"

"No."

"Tim Black?"

"I think so!" she said excitedly. "Cause Mommy said that she was going to change my name to Lexi Black soon."

Freaking Tiffany. What was she thinking?

"Okay." I nodded. "So you're not scared of me anymore? Cause it makes Daddy sad when you run away from him."

Lexi turned pale and got up, backing away from me, eyes tearful.

"What?" I asked, severely confused.

Her bottom lip quivered and a tear fell.

"I know you're not Mister Tim, but he said that all the time." she said weakly as she fell to the ground, hugging her knees.

I got up and she allowed me to bent before her and hug her tight.

"Lexi, I'm gonna make Mister Tim pay for what he did to you." I whispered.

"Mommy used to say that all the time." Lexi said. "But he never paid."

* * *

"We're looking for a Tim Black in Minneapolis." I said, typing the info into Google on my laptop. Logan was sitting beside me, Lexi down for a nap.

"That's a really common sounding name. How will you know which one he is?" Logan asked.

"Good question." I said, thinking. "Actually, wouldn't it be smarter to call the Child Protective Services and tell them that Lexi left something at her old house? Then we'd have his address."

"What if he moved?"

"Then he won't be there and I'll find some other way to kill the bastard."

"You're not REALLY gonna kill him. Right?"

"No. But I'm gonna call the cops on the bastard so they see what's going on and put him in prison." I said.

* * *

"Thanks, Mom, for watching her. I just don't want her to be exposed to him anymore." I said sincerely to my mom. Me and the guys were at my old home at the moment and Lexi was staying there. I didn't want her to go see Tim anymore. Plus Mom had never met Lexi before and were excited to have the day with her.

Dad was coming with us in his Police uniform.

"We're gonna have a fun time. Right, Lexi?" Mom said excitedly. Lexi looked up at her and smiled. At first she was a little skeptical- didn't want to be left alone with this strange lady. But then she found out that she was my mom, Lexi's grandma. THEN she realized that my mom's energy level matched hers and she would have a lot of fun.

The guys had come, too, but were spending time with their parents, or in Kendall's case, his grandma.

"Be good for Grammy, okay?" I said, kneeling before Lexi. "I'll be back- I dunno when, but sometime today."

"Okay." Lexi nodded sadly.

I smiled and kissed her.

"Love you." I offered.

"Love you, too." she grumbled.

I stood back up and dad followed me out.

* * *

"This is it." I said absently, looking at the trailer in the middle of the woods.

"Don't be nervous. I'll take care of everything and if he tries to get violent, I have a TAISER." Dad said excitedly.

My confidence level rose and I nodded as we approached the door. I knocked on it, chin high, my dad next to me.

We waited for a long time. I could hear children inside and a man's voice yelling at them before the door opened.

"What?" a tell, fat, dirty, old man asked angrily, black eyes blazing.

"Yes, I'm looking for Tim Black." I said confidently.

"That me... And?" he asked, looking around behind us suspiciously.

"My name is Carlos Garcia and I'm Lexi's real dad." I said, cocking a brow.

"Hm- yeah, I could see it." he snorted. I wasn't sure how to take it, so I pressed on.

"My daughter has told me some interesting stories about you." I said seriously.

"Who's the cop?"

"That's my father." I said. "I've submitted a 'Suspected Abuse' form and he has a warrant to search your home."

Tim's eyes grew wide as my dad pushed past him, holding up the warrant. I was forced to stay outside, though, because I couldn't legally come in unless invited. Tim went and followed my dad and I watched as the thin woman inside gathered the five kids and held them, afraid.

This must have been what Tiffany and Lexi had to live through. Horrible living conditions and fear. Fear all the time. It was the first time that I realized that Lexi had lived in that very home- played with those very toys- sat on that very floor- only a little more than a year ago. It made me shutter, wishing I could just burn down the house and make no more ghost of Lexi's horrible past.

Finally Dad came back to the door, Tim in cuffs.

"I can't take him in for abuse. I CAN take him in for possession of drugs, though. But his little girlfriend came up clean." his dad said, struggling against the fighting Tim. "There's food and water for the kids- I could only take him for abuse if there wasn't. But there WERE bruises on the kids. And that's court-worthy. So. Your call, Carlos. Do you want to take it to court and try to get him taken to prison for child abuse- slap on another few years to his sentence?"

"Anything to keep that bastard in prison." I spat at Tim.

Tim looked terrified as he was pushed to Dad's cop car. Dad came back to us.

"I'll call you with the court date. And I know you don't WANT to, and I don't either, but bring Lexi. She's vital to the case. We'll have more troopers down here to try to get the woman and a few kids to testify, too."

"Thanks, Dad. I was just gonna beat him up. But- hey. This works even better." I smiled, hugging my dad.

"I'm gonna try to hurry. I wanna make it to dinner and try to get to know my granddaughter- I've been dying to spend a little time with her."

"She's great." I said. "But be careful, okay?"

"Always am." Dad grinned before going back to his car.

* * *

**I originally had the guys go with Carlos and only them four be there and maybe a little fight scene.**

**then I realized hey- Carlos's dad is a cop.**

**then I added him in and realized the guys served no purpose, so i took them out.**

**Sorry if the next chapter is boring. Typically court chapters ARE boring. I'll try to add something heartwarming or noble in there.**

**Please review! :)**


	10. Lexi's Nightmare is Gone

I sat in my seat, Lexi in my lap, cheek on the top of her head.

"Baby, I'm sorry." I whispered.

"For what?" she asked.

"For putting you through what you're about to go through." I said.

Suddenly the door opened and we were told to stand. I stood Lexi behind me protectively as Tim, in an orange jumpsuit and handcuffs, was brought in and sat at the other table.

"Daddy- that's Tim." Lexi whispered, clutching my leg with a death grip.

We were ordered to sit and Lexi sat in my lap, cheek on my shoulder, staring tearfully at Tim.

"He can't get you, Pumpkin." I whispered. "I promise."

My lawyer, Rodney Acres, did a long speech before calling me to the stand. I gave Lexi to Kendall, who was in the stands behind me, and went up. I had to swear to tell the truth before sitting.

"Mister Garcia, tell us about your daughter when you first met her." Rodney said coolly.

"She was three when she was dropped off at my apartment. I had no idea she existed until then. She was really skinny and really untrusting of me and the two other guys that live with me. She was never afraid of my friend, Kendall, though. I remember the first time I gave her something to eat, she washed her own dish and put it in the dishwasher. She told me that where she used to live, Mister Tim- that's what she called him- would 'take care of her' for not washing her dish. I asked her what she meant and she told me that he would have her another bruise- she already had a variety of them on her body.."

"What do you think that meant?"

"I assume he would spank her, but from what I've heard it could mean something sexual, too." I said.

"What have you heard?"

"Lexi told me that Tim used to make her take cold baths... And he would touch her in places grown men should never touch little girls... And make HER touch places little girls shouldn't touch." I said. "My daughter was sexually and physically abused by this man."

Lexi was taken to the stand next. She sat in the huge chair, hugging her knees, dark eyes on Tim the whole time.

"Alexis-"

"It's Lexi. Don't call me Alexis." Lexi said, making the courtroom giggle.

"Lexi, are you afraid of that man there in the orange?" Rodney asked, pointing to Tim. Lexi was silent.

"He's got handcuffs on, Lexi. He can't get you." Rodney reminded her.

"I know. That's what Daddy said, too."

"So are you afraid of Tim?"

Lexi's eyes dropped and she nodded.

"Why?" Rodney asked.

"Cause he gave me bruises a lot. And touched me under my clothes a lot. Only my daddy and my uncles and Mama Knight can see me without clothes, you know. And he tried to make me touch his boy parts." Lexi said quietly.

"TRIED?" Rodney asked. "Did you ever touch his boy parts?"

"No."

"What about your mommy? How did she feel about Tim?"

"She didn't like it when he did bad stuff to me. She saved me a lot when she could."

"So why didn't she and you run away together?"

"Cause Tim had the happy stuff."

"Do you mean the drugs?"

"I dunno. Maybe. But when they did it together, they got really happy."

Rodney nodded thoughtfully.

"What if we had Tim come over here and stand where I'm standing now?" Rodney asked, leaning on the stand before her. Lexi recoiled.

"No. Don't. Please don't." Lexi pleaded. "Daddy! I don't like this!"

My heart broke as her dark eyes locked on mine. I couldn't help her.

"We won't have Tim come over here. He'll never get near you again. You can go back to your daddy now." Rodney permitted and Lexi jumped down and ran to the comfort of my embrace.

Tim was taken to the stand next.

"Mister Black, do you deny giving this child bruises in the past?" Rodney asked.

"No. I had to put her in her place and she bruised easily." Tim shrugged. "Hell, I give the kids I got now bruises."

"And WHY do you give them bruises?"

"For not doing what they're told. With Lexi it was because she ran from me."

"Do you deny sexually abusing her?"

"Define sexual abuse."

"Let's start with this. Do you deny touching her in her undercarriage or chest while she was without clothes?"

"No- I don't deny that."

"Do you deny making her touch YOU in your undercarriage?" Rodney asked.

"Yeah, that I DO deny. I mean, I TRIED. But there was always somethin' and it never happened." Tim shrugged.

"What about the kids you have now?"

"Oh, yeah. I put them in their places, too. Maybe a little more than I should. And sure, I do some of the same things with them as I did with Lexi."

"Why aren't you fighting back?" Rodney asked, confused.

"I'm a sick man, but I don't lie. I did it all. And I still do. Take me to prison." Tim shrugged.

I'm not gonna bore you with the details- partly because I don't remember them. So long story short, Tim was sentenced to prison time for thirty years for drug possession, sexual child abuse, and physical child abuse.

* * *

"Daddy, what happened to Mister Tim?" Lexi asked in my lap. We were at McDonald's eating.

"He's in prison, Pumpkin. So he can't hurt you or any other kids anymore." I said.

"Oh." she smiled.

"You were a huge help today." I said.

"Good."

After she finished, she looked up at me innocently.

"Can I go play in the playhouse?" she asked sweetly.

"Course you can." I grinned.

"Will you come with me?"

"I'm too big."

"So?"

"C'mon! YOLO!" James said, punching my shoulder. I scooped Lexi up in an arm, stuffing fries in my mouth as we entered the playhouse area. We took off our shoes and she happily climbed up the spiderweb ladder thing to get up onto a platform. I noticed that there were literally no other kids there, which was weird.

"C'mon, Daddy!" she squealed, running away. I climbed up with some difficulty and had to bend down to avoid the short beams above the plastic platforms.

"Lexi! Where are you?" I called with a laugh. "I'm gonna getcha!"

I saw a little head peek over the corner of a red wall then disappear mischievously. Yes, this was my daughter.

I went after her, all the way to the top of the huge jungle-gym thing.

"Can we go down the slide?" she asked, eyes bright. "It leads to the ball pit!"

"I'm gettin' too old for this, kid." I laughed, going for her. We went down the slide together, getting launched into the ball pit. I buried myself in the balls, invisible to Lexi, before she could realize it.

"Daddy! You're lost!" she squealed. "Stop hiding!"

I waiting until she was close before springing out of the balls and scooping her up, landing on the cushion of the colorful balls again. She giggled and squealed as I squeezed her.

"You're just so cute I could eat you up!" I exclaimed, nibbling at her, making her laugh and break free.

"Don't eat me!" she giggled as I chased her around. After a minute, I was surprised to see her scooped up by Logan, who stepped into the ball pit and slung my daughter over his shoulder.

"C'mon, Los. We'll cook her up and eat her with barbecue sauce!" he laughed, then turned to where James and Kendall were flirting by throwing french fries at each other. "GUYS! WANNA COME EAT LEXI WITH US?"

"UNCLE KENNY! SAVE ME!" Lexi squealed. Kendall laughed and kicked off his shoes before stepping into the pit.

"I'll save you, Dora!" he laughed, acting like a shanked Logan in the stomach. Logan made a sputtering noise and Kendall snatched Lexi from him bridal style.

"Yay!" she giggled.

"I am slain." Logan said dramatically, falling into the balls.

"C'mon, Dora!" Kendall said nobly. "We'll take this Logan meat to make... Logan stew."

He put her down and dragged Logan to a corner of the pit by a leg, despite Logan's protests.

"You want the eyeballs or can I have them?" Kendall asked, acting like he stabbed a fork into Logan's eye.

"That's brutal." Logan laughed, covering his face with his hands.

"No! We can't eat Uncle Logan!" Lexi said nobly, gently hitting Kendall in the stomach.

"But he's so delicious!" Kendall protested.

"We havta bury him!"

"I'll just eat you!" Kendall sneered, going for Lexi, making her scream and fall into the pit. "Save me!"

James bounded into the pit, hooking an arm around Kendall's stomach and flinging the blonde away, James landing in the balls on top of him. I heard a playful comment about being surrounded by balls, which I was glad Lexi didn't here.

"Daddy, help me bury Uncle Logan!" Lexi smiled, going over to Logan and pushing balls over him. I made my way over to them.

"But, Lexi! He's not dead!" I said in mock disbelief.

"But Uncle Kenny stabbed him in the belly!"

"Don't you know that Logan ALWAYS has a belly shield on under his clothes, especially for this occasion?" I laughed, and Logan sprang back to life, making Lexi's eyes light up.

"Yo, Kendall! Can I have my eye back?" Logan called to Kendall, who was currently having a makeout session with James on the other side. Kendall laughed and acted like he threw something at Logan, Logan "catching" it and popping his eye back into place.

Lexi laughed and I scooped her up and threw her over my shoulder.

"C'mon, guys. It's nap time." I called.

"But we're not tired!" James groaned sarcastically as they follow me.

"Yeah! I'm not tired! I wanna play more!" Lexi whined as I put her back on her feet and took her hand. She reached for Kendall's hand, too, which he took- James having his other one.

"Awe, Logie. I'll hold your hand." I pouted, holding my hand out to him. He rolled his eyes and shook his head.

Lexi fell asleep in the car on the way home, no matter how much she denied her level of exhaustion.

* * *

**I dunno how many more chapters this one has... Are you guys sick of this one yet? Or shall I add another love interest on Carlos's side? *cocks brow mischievously***

**Review! :)**


	11. Sox

It was a Sunday morning- I was fast asleep- when James tackled me and shook me awake.

"What?" I grumbled. "Wassa matter?"

"Bitters is gone!"

"What happened to him?"

"Who cares? He doesn't work here anymore! We have a new manager now!" James squealed.

"Why did you wake me up for this?" I groaned.

"BECAUSE we have to go get a puppy now! Like we always said we would!"

"Isn't Lexi enough for you?"

"Hurry- get up! We're going with or without you."

I groaned and got up as James scampered off to get Lexi dressed and stuff.

After I was ready, I came out to the living room to see James happily brushing my daughter's hair and putting some of it in a cute pigtail on top of her head.

"Bout time!" Kendall said. "Let's GO!"

* * *

"What kind of dog are you guys looking for?" the girl asked, dressed in shorts and a tanktop and a name tag- "Rachael" was her name.

"A BIG dog." Kendall said.

"Um- no way!" I said, holding Lexi up and away from the barking dogs, although she was overjoyed and wanted to pet them all.

"Medium?" James questioned.

"I was thinking more Chihuahua." I said.

"No way! We're Big Time Rush- we can't be caught dead with a little prissy dog!" Logan groaned.

"GUYS! This is the one!" James said in awe, running over to kneel in front of a pen holding a little Husky looking dog. He started talking to it- the dog licking his fingers through the bars.

"A husky?" Logan asked.

"He's an Alaskan Klee Kai- full blood. We've named him Sox, S-O-X. Still only six months old." Rachael said as we all stared at it. It had one blue eye, one brown. "He's cute, eh?"

I let Lexi down and the dog licked her fingers through the bars, tail going nuts.

"Kenny? Pweeeease?" James pouted, standing to face Kendall. "It's your call- the apartment is in your name."

Kendall looked down at the dog.

"Jame, there are like a hundred other dogs here! You haven't even looked at them." he said doubtfully.

"I don't need to! Please?"

Kendall smiled and sighed.

"Fine."

James grinned and pecked Kendall on the lips before turning to the lady.

"He's the one." he said.

"Great!" she smiled, unlocking the gate and slipping a leash on him. James took the leash as Kendall went to work out the paperwork.

* * *

I watched skeptically as James and Lexi played fetch with Sox in the Palm Woods Park. He was a pretty small dog, really friendly, but he got excited easily and I didn't want him to hurt Lexi. But I knew that James would protect her.

"They're so cute." Kendall smiled. We were sitting on the bench, Logan off somewhere with Camille.

"Yeah." I said. "Think Sox is okay? Around Lexi?"

"Look at em. They're besties. But once the dog starts getting horny, we'll have to get em snipped or he'll get mean. I know this- I grew up with dogs." he said smartly. "But Jamie'll make sure he's cool."

I watched as James held the dog up on his hind legs so that the dog could lick Lexi's face, making her squeal and laugh. James smiled and looked over at us with a wink.

"Daddy! Come play!" Lexi yelled over to me. I sighed and went over, James handing the ball to me to go be flirty and gross with Kendall.

"Don't be scared. Sox is a good boy." Lexi said, sitting in the grass, Sox licking her face as she petted his black back. I sat with her and petted the dog- Sox rolling over on his back, making me scratch his stomach.

I threw the ball a few times, Lexi throwing it the rest. I was beginning to ease up with the dog- he was really gentle with Lexi.

I was about to throw the ball again when another dog- a Jack Russell I think- came up to us. The hair on the dog's back stood up as Fox happily began sniffing him, a growl escaping from it's throat.

"Sox! No!" I ordered. Suddenly the other dog snapped at Sox, starting a dog fight. Terrified, I jumped up, snatching Lexi out of the grass and holding her tight.

"TANNER!" a girl gasped, easily sticking a foot between the dogs and snatching the nearest one up, which happened to be Sox.

I looked up to see a short, tanish (but naturally tan, not tanning bed tan) brunette holding him

"Oh- wrong dog." she said, blushing. James ran up.

"I coulda broke it up." he said, a little hurt. The girl smiled brightly, handing Sox to James as Kendall came up and stood close to James. He was funny this way- he was extremely territorial of James around girls.

"Sorry to steal your thunder." the girl laughed, picking up her own dog and smiling at Kendall. "He's cute."

"Excuse me?" Kendall growled, thinking she was calling James cute.

"The dog. What kind is he?" she asked, making James laugh and elbow Kendall for being so jumpy.

"Alaskan Klee Kai." James said, stroking the dog's head. "His name is Sox."

"Oh- guess I should introduce myself." the girl laughed. "I'm Christine."

"James."

"Kendall."

"Carlos. And this is Lexi."

"Can I play with your dog?" Lexi asked in my arm.

"No, Lex. She's probably got places to be." I said.

"Oh, actually I just moved in, so I have nowhere to be. Course you can play with him." Christine smiled.

"Please, Daddy?" Lexi pleaded, using those huge black eyes that I gave her to her advantage, the way I did sometimes.

"You can come, too." Christine said to me. I sighed and gave in, turning to James.

"Keep the dog away." I ordered before letting Lexi down to follow the girl away and sit in the grass. I sat on the other side of Lexi as she stroked the little dog.

"His name is Tanner." Christine said. "I kinda named him after Full House."

"Why not Comet?" I asked.

"I dunno, seemed wrong to name such a little dog that." she smiled and shrugged. I noticed that her dark, almost black hair was long and straightened, reaching almost her elbow. Maybe she was Indian. Not India Indian, but American Indian.

Lexi soon got up and started running around with the dog, leaving just me and the girl.

"She's your daughter? You seem young." Christine observed.

"Twenty-one! Not that young." I laughed. "Well... Maybe to have a four year old I am."

"Are you married, too?" she laughed. "Four years is a big deal."

"Oh, no. It's a long story. But her mom... Well she's dead."

"I'm so sorry I asked."

"No- it's fine. We weren't together. I hadn't even seen her for years, hadn't thought about her either." I explained, then caught my mistake. "Oh- I didn't know about Lexi. She never even told me she was pregnant."

Suddenly Lexi came up, huffing and puffing, the dog beside her.

"I'm thirsty now." she said. I laughed and stood up with Christine.

"I guess that's my cue." I said, taking Lexi's hand.

"This is gonna sound weird, but would you maybe like to tell me this 'long story' over dinner sometime?" Christine asked, embarrassed. "I'm really interested. And you're adorable. I mean- your DAUGHTER'S adorable. You are, too, but that's not what I meant. Oh my God. I'm sorry."

I laughed and shook my head.

"How about tomorrow at... Seven? Do you live at the Palm Woods?" I asked.

"Oh- I actually live in the complex on the other side of the park." she said. "Apartment 354."

"I'll pick you up." I said.

"Can I come?" Lexi asked. Christine laughed.

"Maybe another time." she said.

"Okay, well I gotta get this one home." I said. "I'll see you tomorrow."

* * *

**Yay!**

**Well, there ya go, sarahc1995! Your brunette named Christine! :D Yet again you save my life.**

**Review! :)**


	12. This Girl

I wasn't entirely sure how I was supposed to dress. The little "dinner" with the Christine girl... Was it a DATE? Or just innocent dinner?

James, before Kendall, had been on several of these weird in-between dates and put me in one of Kendall's light blue flannel shirts and nice jeans. He said that the outfit was nice, but not TOO nice.

"Where're you going?" Lexi pouted as I put on my shoes.

"Remember the girl that we met at the park yesterday?" I asked. "I'm going to eat dinner with her."

"What am I gonna eat?"

"I dunno. Uncle Kenny'll make you something." I said, getting up. "Maybe he'll take you out to eat."

"Hm." Lexi nodded.

"I'll be back." I said, bending down to kiss her goodbye before leaving.

* * *

"Carlos!" came a yell and I saw Christine hurrying toward me in front of her apartment complex. "I was getting scared you weren't coming."

"Sorry- I was running late." I smiled. She was wearing a light green tank top and light blue shorts, her hair curly over her shoulders.

"It's okay." she smiled as we began walking. "Where're we eating?"

"Oh- I didn't think about THAT." I laughed.

"I know this GREAT burger place- it's cheap, too. It's just down the road." she said, pointing to a little burger trailer farther down the road. Her voice was more of a squeak than anything- high pitched, yet playful. It sounded like Jennifer Lawrence's voice- kinda like she had a soar throat. It matched her complexion. Not that she looked sick, but it was small and cute, like her.

We arrived at the trailer and I ordered our burgers. She gave me money for hers, but I gave it back, being a gent and such.

"Wow- that's a big burger... Gonna be able to eat all that?" I asked, staring at the burger that she unwrapped happily as we sat at a picnic table outside the trailer, side by side.

"I do it all the time." she shrugged. I couldn't help but notice that she was the perfect weight- not too skinny or fat at all.

"And you keep that weight?" I laughed.

"I've always been able to eat whatever." she smiled. "It's a talent."

She took a huge bite of the burger and ran her fingers through her hair before tossing it over her shoulder carelessly.

"So tell me the story." she said after finishing the bite. I swallowed what I had in my mouth and nodded. I had actually forgotten about that.

"Me and my three other buddies used to live in Minnesota." I began. "I dated this girl for a while, then me and my friends decided to moved here and she dumped me. Well, almost four years later, yaddah yaddah, all this happens, long story short, I'm a little famous. Anyway, this lady knocks on my apartment door and kinda just tells me that my ex overdosed on drugs and Lexi was my responsibility, then kinda drops this random little girl off and leaves. I had no idea that Lexi even existed before then- my ex never told me. So, being twenty, I decided I wasn't fit to be a parent and was gonna give her up to a foster home. My friend, James- you met him- he convinced me to legally adopt her and raise her. She's four now. Me and her and my friends are really close- she calls my buddies her uncles."

"That's so cute." Christine beamed. "Does she ever talk about her mom?"

"Not really. She's really super scarred from her earlier years, though. My ex's many boyfriends used to kinda abuse her, then there's this one guy who actually tried to rape her and beat her a lot. Actually, we just recently got him into prison." I said. "It kills me that I wasn't there to protect her those years, but I had no idea she even existed then."

"I can tell you're a great father." she smiled. "The way you held Lexi when the dogs were fighting-"

"I knew the dog was a bad idea. But it wasn't my choice, you know? There were four other people who wanted to adopt him." I said, rolling my eyes.

"Dogs are never a bad idea." she smiled. "I love em."

"So what's your story? Why're you here in Cali?" I asked, taking a bite of my burger.

"I'm a singer." she explained. "I'm from Oklahoma- I used to live on an Indian reservation there. I'm sure you were wondering. Yeah- I'm Cherokee. What about you? You seem like a fun race."

I laughed and shook my head.

"I'm Spanish. And Venezuelan." I said. "But you don't know how many people think I'm Mexican."

"Exotic." she smiled. "So you said you were famous. Why?"

"Oh- me and James and Kendall and Logan are in a band called Big Time Rush." I explained.

"That's you guys? My gosh- this girl I used to be friends with was just OBSESSED with you guys." she said in surprise. "But I never knew who you were."

"Our fame has really slowed down lately, though. I mean, when Lexi came into the picture we were in the tabloids like crazy, but nowadays we're focusing more on Lexi than our careers."

She nodded as she finished her burger and moved to position a foot under her butt to sit on it and lean her elbows onto the table. I still had a few bites left.

"I have to admit, that whole 'dinner to tell me your story' thing was just a sly way to get you to go out with me." Christine admitted with a smile. "I guess there's just something about a guy with a little kid that attracts my attention."

I cocked and brow and shrugged.

"Normally Lexi scares girls away." I said. "I used to get WAY more attention from the ladies, but now Lexi's always clinging to me."

"You're cute." she smiled. "And Lexi seems like fun- I don't mind her."

"Oh you." I laughed with a wave, making her laugh. This girl didn't mess around with giggles- she laughed wholeheartedly every time.

"And what about Kendall and James?" she asked. "They're like- a thing, right? They seem like they are."

"Oh, yeah. They've been together for a coupla years now." I said. "At first it was weird, cause we've all been best friends since forever. But now it's just a normal thing."

"And Lexi's gonna grow up knowing that gay is okay. Which is a plus, cause you don't see that very often."

"Exactly. I'm glad she has that life lesson in there." I laughed.

We talked for another half an hour and I found myself laughing a lot- feeling like my old self before I was so responsible for things. Christine liked to flirt, but in a way that seemed innocent, making me flirt back. Finally we realized how long we had been there and started walking back.

"Um- so I don't wanna freak you out, but when can I see you again?" I asked, finding myself feeling nervous at the door to the huge building she lived in. She laughed and reached forward, taking my phone from my pocket and without hesitation putting her number in it.

"I trust that you're not a scumbag and you'll call or text me sometime." she said. "I'd really love to do this again. Anytime- tomorrow night or three weeks from now. Whatever. But if it's three weeks from now you better text me before then so I don't think that you're a jerk and you're never gonna call me."

I laughed and nodded as she put my phone back into my pocket. Before I knew it, her arms were around my neck and she was hugging me tight.

"I think we really hit it off. And even if you're not looking for anything serious because of Lexi, I'd still love you be a friend." she smiled, pulling away and waving as she disappeared into the building.

As I walked through the park back to the Palm Woods, I thought about it. I definitely wanted to see her again soon. I really WASN'T looking for a girlfriend- I hadn't even thought about that since Lexi came along. Alison was just a surprise.

Alison. Right.

Could I take another heartbreak? I mean, Christine seemed harmless and cute, but what if she was publicity hungry, too? No way. Christine was the nicest person I knew. She wouldn't do that...

I'd call her tomorrow and set up another date. It's settled.

* * *

**Review! :)**


	13. Going Places

"Daddy, can we take Sox out for a walk?" Lexi asked, tugging on the hem of my shirt.

"Are you down for a walk?" I asked Christine, who was helping me with the dishes after the dinner I made for us and the guys and Lexi. It turned out to be a huge food fight and burping contest, which I was afraid would scare Christine away, but she ended up joining in- to my surprise.

"Yeah." she smiled. "Oooh- can we go to the beach?"

Her black eyes were bright and excited when she asked the question. I noticed that she didn't use her eyes to her advantage ON PURPOSE to get what she wanted the way Lexi did.

"I guess." I gave in. "But we have to finish the dishes first. Lex, get your shoes on and Sox's leash ready, okay?"

Lexi nodded excitedly and ran off to do what I told her to do.

It was mine and Christine's fourth date. I felt like I had been with her for years, though, the way we acted around each other. But we hadn't done anything serious yet- what we had was still innocent and friendly. But I wanted to be serious with her.

* * *

"Don't fall!" I called to Lexi as she and Sox ran through the sand- Sox off of his leash.

"She's fine, Carlos." Christine laughed, snaking an arm around my waist. "Don't worry so much."

"That dog just makes me nervous." I sighed as she took my hand and raised my arm up to lay across her shoulders.

"He's a good dog." she said reassuringly. "Nothing'll happen."

She smiled up at me and laid her head on my shoulder as we walked- Lexi and Sox, who were shin-deep (on Lexi) in the water now. Christine must have felt me wanting to tell her to get out of the water, because she turned her head to me and said something.

"She's fine. Let her be a kid." she said.

"I guess." I sighed, watching as the hem of Lexi's dress got soaked with water and Sox shook his coat out all over her.

"Let's sit." Christine suggested, picking a spot in the sand for us to sit with a perfect view of Lexi and Sox in the water. The sun was setting.

"Is this the wrong time for me to bring up our status as two people who have had four dates?" I asked, hand behind her in the sand.

"I think it's the perfect time." she grinned, black eyes shining. "Let's talk."

"Lexi really likes you. And the guys really like you-"

"What about YOU?" she asked. "Do YOU like me?"

"I like you a lot." I admitted.

"I like you, too." she smiled.

"And I was WONDERING... If it's okay to consider you my... My girlfriend?" I stammered.

She giggled and laid her head on my shoulder again.

"Only if we can kiss and hold hands and stuff." she sang.

"No problem." I said. "So... That's yes?"

"It's a hell yes. Pardon my French."

I smiled to myself as I watched Lexi run over to us, panting, like Sox. She sat between my legs and laid her head against my chest, breathing hard, as Sox laid down in the sand.

"Did you have fun?" I asked Lexi.

"Yeah." she nodded. "I'm tired."

"Good." I laughed as I pulled her dark hair out of her face. "So you'll sleep good tonight."

* * *

"Night, Daddy. Love you." Lexi grumbled sleepily as I tucked her in that night.

"Night, Pumpkin. I love you, too." I said, kissing her forehead.

"Night, Miss Christine." Lexi said with a smile.

"Goodnight, Lexi." Christine smiled. I grinned at her and took her hand to pull her out of the room, turning out the lights and closing the door. The guys were on the couch- James asleep, head in Kendall's lap. Kendall and Logan watching the hockey game on the TV.

"I'll see you guys later." Christine said, waving at them. They waved back as we went for the door. I walked Christine to her apartment then.

"Sure you don't wanna come in and sit down for a sec? It's a long walk." Christine offered, getting her keys outside of her door.

"I'll be okay." I smiled.

"Okay." she breathed, then unlocked her door. Before going inside, she turned to me, eyes shining yet again, and got on her toes to peck me on the lips. My mind went soaring and I didn't even realize that she had already said goodbye and was gone.

* * *

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* * *

It was the 4th of July. Christine and I had been together for about six months.

"Lex, be very good for Christine, okay?" I said seriously, squatting before Lexi backstage. "Stay with her the whole time. No running off."

"Okay." she nodded, holding Christine's hand.

"I'll be back soon."

"Okay!" she said impatiently.

"Okay." I smiled, kissing her cheek, then standing to do the same to Christine. "Don't let her push you around. She likes to do that sometimes."

"I got it. Don't worry." Christine laughed. "We'll be fine. Have a good show."

I ran to catch up with the guys backstage. We were performing a few songs at the beach- there was a huge Mali beach party going on and I had never had the courage to bring Lexi til this year. She had always stayed with Mrs. Knight.

As soon as we got on stage, people clapped like they did for everyone else. I immediately spotted Christine and Lexi standing toward the front of the crowd- Christine grinned and winked at me.

We performed 24/Seven and Crazy For U and an old one- Time Of Our Life. We hadn't really released anything for a long time.

After that, we went offstage, did some autographs, then I went to find Lexi and Christine.

"Was she good?" I asked sternly, picking Lexi up.

"She always is." Christine said, rolling her eyes.

"Want ice cream?" I asked Lexi with a smile. Her dark eyes lit up and she nodded, making me kiss her cheek and let her down, taking Christine's hand.

"I want you to carry me!" she groaned.

"You're getting too big, Pumpkin!" I said. "As Uncle Jamie- I'm sure he will."

She turned and looked up at James, saying something resulting in James smiling and swooping down to hold her in one arm, holding Kendall's hand in the other. They followed us to the ice cream stand where we had to wait forever. Christine sighed impatiently and I laughed and wrapped my arms around her from behind, cheek pressed to her head.

"It'll be okay. I promise." I laughed.

"I hate lines." she grumbled.

"I know."

She was in an American flag tank top and short jeans shorts, her long black hair in a french braid down her back. I had to admit- she looked adorable. As usual.

After we got the ice cream, we found a seat in the sand to watch the fireworks. Christine laid lazily between my legs, playing with my fingers as we waited.

"Miss Christine! That's my seat." Lexi pouted, ice cream all over her face. She had been hanging out with Kendall and James til now.

"Lexi, we have to share." I said sternly.

"That's always my seat." she said, brows upturned the way I always do.

"C'mere, Kid." Logan said, pulling Lexi to him. He was there alone- Camille went back home to Connecticut like she did every year. "You can sit with me. Daddy and Christine want to have alone time WITHOUT little munchkins interrupting them."

Lexi pouted and sat in his lap. I gave Logan a grateful look and he shrugged.

"I'm the only one without someone to cuddle with- I figured why not?" he smirked, jabbing a thumb to James and Kendall- Kendall's legs over James's, James's arms around him.

"She's just tired and cranky." I said reassuringly to Christine, who was clearly upset about the whole thing. "It's not a big deal. Look- she's already forgotten about it."

Lexi was laughing and squirming in Logan's lap as Logan tickled her.

"I guess. I just hate to think that I'm stealing you from her." she sighed. I laughed and kissed her temple.

"She's got three other guys to go to." I said.

"But only one Daddy."

"It'll be fine." I said reassuringly. "Just forget about it."

She nodded and snuggled into me more as the fireworks started up.

Afterward Lexi was completely fine. She squeezed between Christine and I and held both our hands asking us to swing her the way Kendall and James did.

* * *

**So that second part about the 4th of July was weird- I just got done with what I needed to get done and realized that it wasn't long enough.**

**Is anyone reading anymore?**

**Anyway, Only a few more chapters! Any ideas? :D**

**Review**


	14. Kindergarten

"Awe, just LOOK how adorable you are!" Christine squealed, watching Lexi and I come from Lexi's bedroom. Lexi, as much as I hated to admit it, was going to Kindergarten. She was barely 5 years old- just turned it in August- but she was still excited. Me and Kendall, however, weren't so thrilled.

"C'mon, Hon. I'll do your hair!" Christine grinned, picking Lexi up and taking her to the bathroom. Kendall watched solemnly before looking at me.

"Kindergarten?" he groaned. "The hell?"

"I know." I sighed, plopping down on the couch. "It's so depressing."

"Oh come on!" Logan laughed. "At least now you get a few hours to spend with Christine."

"Yeah, yeah." I sighed.

* * *

"Hi, parents. Nice to see you again." Mrs. Turner, Lexi's teacher, who was pretty old but really friendly, said. Christine and I had gone to the orientation with Lexi and Lexi already had lots of friends, despite her minimal time spent with kids her age. "If you could help your children find their seats, that would be fantastic."

I frowned as I saw the name "Alexis" printed in playful letters on a name card on one of the desks. I thought maybe there was another Alexis in the room, so I looked around, looking for a "Lexi" card, but not finding one.

"Look, Lex." I smiled, pulling out the chair for her. "You get to color!"

Lexi grinned as she sat, then looked up at me and Christine.

"Color with me!" she suggested.

"Alright, parents. I think it's time to say your goodbye's. I know it's tough." Mrs. Turner said to the class. I sighed, heart heavy, wanting to cry, as I squatted down beside Lexi.

"Me and Christine have to go, Pumpkin." I said sadly. Immediately Lexi's face dropped and her black eyes got big.

"Why?"

"Cause grown-ups aren't allowed in Kindergarten." I sighed. "But you're gonna have a lot of fun here with your new friends. I promise."

I already heard a lot of crying kids and even more crying parents. I took a deep breath.

"I'll come get you in a few hours, okay?"

"Daddy!" she said, eyes tearful. "Don't go."

I took in another deep breath, willing myself not to cry.

"Gimme a hug, baby girl." I said, voice cracking. Lexi's lip quivered as she got out of her tiny seat to hug me, then Christine.

"I love you." I offered.

"Love you, too." she sniffled, making me wipe the tear from her cheek.

"Have fun. Be good. Play nice." I said, kissing her cheek and standing. She waved as Christine and I left, and before going out the door I looked back to see her already coloring, laughing with the kid next to her. She'd be fine...

"She's already got friends. That's more that most of those kids can say." Christine said reassuringly, an arm comfortingly around my waist. "She's gonna have a lot of fun. I swear."

"I've never left her like that... With strangers." I sighed.

"She'll be fine, Honey. You'll see." she smiled. "How about we grab some lunch and maybe walk around in the mall til it's time to get her."

Lexi was in the afternoon class, which only lasted from noon to three. So don't think we were just gonna waste time for nine hours like a normal school day.

We were at Pinera Bread waiting for our food when Kendall called me.

"How was it?" he asked.

"It was okay, I guess. She cried when we were about to leave. It was like... The hardest thing I've ever done." I sighed. "But by the time we were out the door she was coloring and talking to the kid next to her, so that made me feel better."

"Wish I coulda came." he sighed. He had begged and begged me to allow him to come for her first day, but I thought that that would just make it harder for her.

"You woulda cried and you know it." I laughed as the buzzer buzzed. Christine pushed me back in my seat when I tried to get up and she went to get our food herself.

"Yeah." he sighed. "Still can't believe she's going to school now."

"Tell me about it. Hey, Chris and I are at Pinera, so I gotta go." I said.

"Kay. Bye."

"Bye!"

I hung up as Christine came back with our food.

"It's cute how close Kendall is with her." she said, putting my roast beef sandwich in front of me, then sitting down with her own food.

"Yeah- has been since day one." I nodded. "He's her favorite uncle by far."

She smiled and took a huge bite of her sandwich. Man, I'll never get tired of the way that tiny girl eats.

* * *

"Daddy!" Lexi squealed when she saw me. She had her Dora backpack on (courtesy of Kendall) and was ready to go. She jumping into my arms and I kissed her cheeks happily.

"Ready to go home?" I asked. "Uncle Kenny and Jamie and Logan are gonna meet us somewhere special to celebrate your first day of school."

"Where?" she asked excitedly.

"Can't tell you. It's a surprise." I smiled.

"Mister and Misses Garcia?" Mrs. Turner called from across the room. "Can I see you alone?"

I shot Christine a look. What was this about? I didn't even acknowledge the fact that the teacher thought we were married.

"Be right back, baby. Go play for a little." I said, setting Lexi down. She pouted a little, but ran off to play with one of the kids whose parent wasn't there yet.

Christine and I sat in front of the teacher's desk nervously.

"Lexi is fantastic in class- a real social butterfly. However, I think I'll have to change her name card soon." she smiled. "Hates to be called Alexis."

"She always hated that." I laughed.

"I AM a little concerned about her, though. You said that her biological mother has passed, right?"

"Yes ma'am." I nodded.

"Well I don't understand how she is making current statements about her 'Mommy'." Mrs. Turner said slowly.

"Like what?" I asked, confused.

"Like that her Mommy steals her seat on Daddy's lap a lot. And that her Mommy fixed her hair this morning."

I saw Christine's face smooth over and go blank.

"We'll talk to her about it. Thanks." I said, standing.

* * *

"Lex?" I asked, looking at Lexi through the mirror as I drove.

"Hm?"

"You know that Christine isn't your mommy... Right?" I asked.

"Why not?"

I sighed, thinking hard. Christine hadn't said anything since we left, which was weird for her.

"Remember when I found out that Mister Tim had you calling him Daddy? I got real mad, right?"

"Yeah."

"Well I don't think your Mommy would be very happy if she found out that you called Christine Mommy at school." I said seriously.

"All the other kids had Mommies."

"I know, baby." I sighed. "And it's okay to think of Christine kinda like a Mommy. Cause she takes care of you and stuff. But she's not actually your Mommy. Okay?"

"Okay."

"When you talk about Christine, make sure you call her Christine, okay?"

"Okay. Are you mad at me?"

"No, baby. Course not."

"Is Christine mad at me?"

I looked over at Christine, who bit her lip.

"Course I'm not mad at you, Lexi." she said quietly. I nudged her, giving her a concerned look.

"ICE CREAM!" Lexi squealed as we pulled into the DQ parking lot, seeing Logan's car already there. We went inside and got Mini Blizzards and sat.

"You okay?" I asked Christine.

"I'm not sure HOW I feel right now." she said, dazed. "Lexi thinks I'm her mom?"

"I dunno." I shrugged.

"It wouldn't be so bad if she had never known her mother. But she DID. And she loved her a lot. I couldn't take her place." Christine sighed.

"It's okay, Chris. Trust me- it's just her five year old brain that can't process the difference." I said, hand on hers. "It won't happen anymore."

"Not that I don't WANT to be her mom. But- you know."

"I know." I smiled. "Eat your blizzard."

* * *

**Next chapter's the last one! I'm thinking fast forward about... Ten years? I know that's a lot, but I love fast forwarding! And I want to have Lexi be a teenager! Anyone apposed to that? If so, you best have a good idea instead! :D**

**Don't forget to review!**


	15. See What A Great Kid We Raised?

"Hey, Lex? Can you drive Riley to his soccer practice?" I called through the house. Lexi appeared at the top of the stairs, hands on her hips.

"I'm not your taxi service, DAD." she growled.

"Alexis." I said in a warning voice. "I'm a little busy here."

I nodded toward the three year old whom I was playing with on the floor.

"Why can't Christine do it?"

"She's busy with the baby. Just do it. Please?" I pleaded. "He's gonna be late. RILEY! COME ON!"

Lexi groaned and went back upstairs. She was seventeen now and full of attitude and fighting back. Really the only person she DIDN'T fight with was Kendall and her boyfriend, Bradley. She had grown out her black hair to about the middle of her back. She wore makeup and lower cut shirts, like the other girls her age. She was only a little shorter than I was with lighter skin than her half-siblings, being half Caucasian.

As she came back down the stairs, Riley ran out of the bathroom in his soccer gear and Kendall, James, and their daughter came in. Their daughter, Melanie, was seven and looked a lot like James, being his biological daughter.

"Hey, Uncle Kendall. Uncle James." Lexi and Riley said simultaneously, Riley being cheery, Lexi being flat about it.

"Sup, my man?" James smiled. "Goin' to soccer?"

"Yeah! Coming to my game this weekend?" Riley asked, black eyes shining. The eleven year old really was exactly like me.

"Duh!" James laughed. Melanie ran off to find Christine and the baby.

"Where ya goin' Dora? I just got here!" Kendall smirked.

"I swear to God, if you don't stop calling me that-" she laughed. "I'm being forced into chauffeuring my little brother around. So I'll see you in a few. Let's GO, Riley. You're gonna be late."

She patted Kendall's shoulder as they left. They never lost their connection.

"I dunno how you do it." I sighed as James and Kendall made their way to the living room with me. "Every time I talk to her she just argues."

"Cause you're her dad and that's what she's supposed to do. She's seventeen." James shrugged, scooping up the child that was on the floor holding him by the waist upside down, making the kid giggle and wriggle.

"Hey Benji. Whatcha doin'?" he grinned to my second youngest.

Benjamin was three years old and a little daredevil. Even at his young age, he loved to jump off of things and try to beat people up. He loved all his uncles because they all loved playing and roughhousing with him, but he liked James the best for some reason.

"Playin' with trucks!" Benjamin grinning. "Play with me!"

James laughed and sat down. He liked kids, but he and Kendall decided on only one child. They had tried for another one with a surrogate mother, like Melanie had been born, but the mother had miscarried. This had destroyed the couple and they just never got around to trying again. So Melanie was an only child.

"Los! Come help me!" Christine called helplessly from the baby's bedroom. I sighed and got up, following the sound of a screaming baby, into the bedroom.

"Make her stop. Mother of GOD make her stop crying!" Christine pleaded, shoving the two month old into my arms.

"What's goin' on, CiCi?" I asked, holding the screaming baby up to look at me.

"She's not dirty, not hungry, not tired, not ANYTHING." Christine sighed.

Sierra was the smallest baby I had ever seen when she was born. She was two months premature and just got home from the hospital a few days ago. Right now she was the size of a regular newborn, since she SHOULD be a newborn about now.

Finally Sierra looked at me with her huge tearful black eyes and slowly decrescendoed her screams until she stopped. She stared at me for a second and I laughed, cradling her in my arm until she fell asleep.

"I dunno how you do it." Christine sighed, kissing me before taking Sierra and putting her in the crib. "Thanks."

"She's a Daddy's Girl." I shrugged. "What can I say."

"C'mon, Mel. Let's go play." Christine suggested as she took the girl's hand and lead her out, me following them.

"Woah- when did you get here?" I laughed when I saw Logan sitting there on the couch with Kendall, his twin daughters, Cameron and Emily, in the kitchen raiding the fridge.

Logan has the longest story of us all. See, he and Camille got married shortly after Lexi turned 5, which inspired the agreement to end BTR. They had Cameron and Emily, identical twins, after that. THEN they had Zoe, who was born when the twins were one. I guess the pressure of being a parent got to Camille, cause she kinda went crazy and left Logan. They have joint custody of the girls, but they favorite Logan.

"Hey Aunt Christine? Do you have any ice cream?" Cameron called from the kitchen.

"Uh- I think so. Unless Carlos ate it all." Christine called back. "If you find it you can have it."

"So where's Zoe?" I asked Logan, sitting next to him on my couch.

"Camille took her to the doctor's. She's sick." Logan sighed. We all knew he missed Camille a lot- even after all these years he still hadn't started dating again.

The door opened and Lexi came in.

"Why is everyone always here? I just don't understand." Lexi grumbled, making for the stairs.

"Lex! Come hang out." I ordered. "You never do."

"There's a reason for that."

"Tell us about it." Kendall said, cocking a daring brow.

Lexi sighed and made her way to the living room, where she sat on the floor next to me, Benjamin sitting in her lap.

"There's just kids everywhere. I miss the old days when it was just me and you guys." she sighed.

"You mean when you were FIVE?" James snorted. "You can't possibly remember that."

"How could I not? Those were the golden years." Lexi shrugged.

"Well how about we go to dinner tonight?" Logan suggested. "Just the guys and Lexi."

"We wouldn't leave Christine with SEVEN kids." James reasoned.

"My mom'll come down and help. Let's do it." Kendall said excitedly.

* * *

"You don't like all the kids in the house, eh?" I asked Lexi at the pizza place we were at. It was me and her and Kendall in one side of the booth, James and Logan in the other.

"I love them all, I really do, but I hate babysitting all the time. Sometimes I want time to hang out with Brad-" when she said her boyfriend's name, there was chorus of groans. It wasn't that Brad wasn't a nice boy- he was- it was just that we didn't like that she had a boyfriend. "And hang with friends and hang out with YOU guys."

"We hang all the time." Kendall insisted.

"Yeah- me 'n you." Lexi grumbled.

"I think I know what this is about. You miss your Daddy Daughter time. You miss having your dad all to yourself." Logan said smartly.

Lexi sighed and propped her head up on an elbow.

"Is that it?" I asked gently.

"I dunno. Maybe. But ever since you 'n Christine had Sierra you haven't had time for ANYONE. I know she needs a lot of attention, but still. And I swear if you and Christine get horny again and have MORE kids-"

"Lex!" I laughed. "We don't just GET horny. You're the only mistake in the midst."

The guys laughed at this, but Lexi shot me a dirty look.

"But you're the best mistake I've ever made." I offered, making her roll her eyes. I sighed. "Look, Lex. I know it's hard. But you're being a huge help."

"Yeah, yeah." she said flatly. I laughed and put an arm around her, bringing her to me and kissing her head.

"You could come live with me 'n Jamie, Dora." Kendall suggested.

"I'm seventeen, Kendall. Quit calling me Dora." Lexi laughed, then after a while she seemed thoughtful. "You know, I had this crazy flashback today."

"Of?"

"This time, when I was little, the first time I met you, Uncle Kendall. But I can't remember what you said. All I remember is you being all excited, but Dad and Logan telling you not to get too attached..."

"Yeah. I yelled something like 'Guys? Dora the fricking Explorer is in our living room!'" Kendall laughed, recalling the time. "And they yelled at me for nicknaming you."

"Why?"

The guys's heads all turned to me, raising their brows. I had never told Lexi about me almost giving her up.

"When you were first brought to me... I was twenty." I explained slowly. "A three year old is a huge responsibility for a reckless 20 year old guy."

"Okay..."

"So at first, I made the decision to give you up for adoption." I said. "James came with me to the place- I was so set on doing it. But he convinced me not to. And I just think... If James wasn't there with me... Where would you be now?"

Lexi was quiet for a while, twiddling her thumbs.

"So me and Logan were yelling at Kendall cause he had nicknamed you... Getting attached when you wouldn't be staying long." I said.

"I'm glad you didn't give me up." she said quietly, looking up at me. "I know that it musta been hard- being so young."

"But it didn't take long for me to accept it. And I had the guys to help me." I smiled, arm over her shoulders. "You were- ARE- a lovable kid."

The pizza arrived and we all dug in.

"You know, I was your age when you were conceived. But I'm not encouraging you to have sex." I said over a mouthful of pizza.

"Yeah. If I find out that Brad knocked you up-" James said seriously, holding up his flexed bicep and slapping it.

Lexi laughed and shook her head.

"That's disgusting." she said. "Sex, I mean. Not your bicep."

"Good. So there's no reason to have it. Sex, I mean. Not my husband's bicep." Kendall mocked. "Problem solved."

"Yeah. Don't worry about that." she laughed. "We already agreed- no sex before marriage."

"See what a great kid we raised?" Logan smirked. We all grunted in agreement as we ate.

* * *

**Yay! The end. **

**Sorry it wasn't a good ending... **

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